Landed home values hold up well
A landed home often offers more space as well as a certain prestige. Its value also typically holds well over the years as the market has a limited supply of landed properties. The landed home market does not attract many speculators because it is relatively small. Foreigners are not ordinarily allowed to buy landed homes. Many landed home sellers also have better holding power and can wait for a better price, said executive director, residential, of OrangeTee.com. In the first quarter, landed home values slipped by an average of 1.5 per cent to $542 psf for leasehold houses and fell by 2.2 per cent to $1,193 psf for prime freehold houses. In comparison, private flats fell by a greater margin of 2.6 to 3.6 per cent, according to DTZ. Rental yields for landed homes are lower than condominiums. Most investors who buy landed property for investment are looking more into capital appreciation than long-term rental income. 'Landed properties generally double in value every seven to 10 years, said managing director of RealStar Premier Property Consultant.
- The Sunday Times, P24 – 5 April
More expats fall prey to rogue property agents
More expatriates have become victims of tricky landlords, dodgy tenancy agreements, disappearing deposits and other rental snares. According to the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case), foreigners lodged 32, out of a total of 365, complaints against real estate agents from last October to March this year. This was a 23 per cent increase from the 26, out of 516, complaints within the same period a year earlier. Case said that most of the complaints it received concerned rental agreements. Commonly cited were overcharging and failure to honour agreements, especially with regard to refunds. Dennis Wee Group said: 'At the moment, only about one-third of real estate agents here are CEHA-certified.'
- The Sunday Times, P12 – 5 April
Singapore to lead Asia Reit recovery on bank funding
Real estate investment trusts in Singapore and Australia will be the first in Asia-Pacific to recover from the economic slowdown on their ability to secure funding from banks, according to a new survey. Singapore has the region's best environment for Reits in terms of property market growth and regulatory support, Sydney-based Trust Company Ltd said in the annual Reit survey. 'In Singapore, every Reit has so far been able to successfully refinance debt as it's fallen due,' Trust chief executive officer John Atkin said. 'It's a credit crunch, not a property crunch and by that I mean the fundamentals of the real estate market are quite good,' UBS AG senior property analyst John Freedman said.
- The Business Times, P4
Sentosa dream gets hazy
While key hotel projects and the Resorts World at Sentosa integrated resort are largely on schedule, things are not going as well at Sentosa Cove. The plan was for some 2,500 oceanfront villas, waterway bungalows, hillside mansions and upscale condominiums to be built on the 117-hectare site. Earlier projections were that the bulk of the new homes would be ready by 2010. But industry sources now say fewer than 1,000 homes are likely to be completed by the end of this year. One problem is that sales and prices of new homes on the island have dropped sharply in the last two quarters, exacerbated by the number of foreigners leaving Singapore. Colliers' data shows that only one non-landed residential unit in Sentosa was sold in Q4 2008. In the first three months of this year, the number rose to eight. Colliers' data shows that the transacted price of non-landed properties at Sentosa Cove averaged $1,318 psf in Q1 2009 - down 45.8 per cent from the peak average of $2,431 psf recorded exactly one year ago in Q1 2008.
- The Business Times, P1 (see attached “6 April BT Sentosa dream gets hazy”)
AT&T to upgrade S'pore ops
US telecommunications titan AT&T is set to give its Singapore data centre and customer support facilities a multi-million dollar facelift this year under a US$1 billion regional investment plan. Singapore is the firm's headquarters for the Asean region and plays host to two key AT&T facilities. The company plans to move more support functions to its 270-man local worldwide customer service outfit. AT&T's Singapore data centre will be further upgraded over the course of 2009.
- The Business Times, P32
Q1 jobless rate likely to exceed Q4 2008: MOM
Singapore’s jobless rate in the first three months of the year is likely to exceed the 2.5 per cent posted in December last year. Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said that the unemployment rate for the first quarter is expected to be higher than the last three months of 2008. Singapore's jobless rate averaged 2.3 per cent last year, up from 2.1 per cent in 2007. Mr Gan said that schemes such as the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) and Jobs Credit Scheme are helping companies to cut costs to save jobs.
- The Business Times, P9