More projects with small units to be released this weekend
More projects with small apartments are being released for sale, with one offering units of just 344 sq ft - slightly over half the size of a squash court. A preview for the freehold Kembangan Suites at Jalan Masjid - which has 60 mainly small flats and eight shops - starts today. Its prices will be revealed only at 10am with sales starting at noon. Starting prices are at least $300,000 for the one-bedroom units, which range from 344 sq ft to 527 sq ft, according to the marketing material. The project also offers 581 sq ft two-bedroom units. The 104-unit Domus in Irrawaddy Road will be released for sale this weekend with the interest absorption scheme. Prices will start from just below $500,000 for the 25 studios of 474 sq ft, said Savills Residential, which is marketing the project. The project has penthouses, including a 926 sq ft double-storey one-bedroom penthouse. Domus is next to a fairly new launch - I-Residences, where prices are hovering around $900 psf. In Balestier, The Mezzo - on the site of the former Ruby Plaza - will also be released for sale in a special preview tomorrow. It has 127 units including 20 one-bedders of 560 sq ft. The Mezzo is offering a 6 per cent annual rental guarantee for two years, apart from the interest absorption scheme. The rental guarantee kicks in right after the temporary occupation permit date. The one-bedders will be priced from about $540,000 and the two-bedders from about $715,000, said HSR.
- The Straits Times, B26
HSBC's new home loan offers 'loyalty discount'
HSBC has unveiled a new home loan pegged to Sibor that rewards longer-term borrowers with an interest rate that gets increasingly competitive over time. For its new 'loyalty package', HSBC customers will see a year-on-year decrease in the interest spread until the 10th year, when it will hit zero. During the first year, borrowers will pay an interest rate spread of 1.5 per cent above the three-month Sibor. The spread is then reduced by 0.075 percentage point at the end of each anniversary year. Premier customers’ interest rate spread will be cut by 0.1 percentage point at the end of each anniversary year. In the 10th year of the loan, the interest rate spread will be reduced to zero for all customers. Thereafter, the rate reverts to Sibor plus 1.2 per cent for the remaining tenure of the home loan. HSBC said that to enjoy its new home loan, customers must have an average annual balance of $100,000 or more. It added that there was no lock-in period for the loan.
- The Straits Times, B26
(Also see, The Business Times, P3 “HSBC Home loan rewards loyalty”)
Big demand for new flats
Champions Court, a BTO project, closed yesterday with 3,239 applications for just 815 units. The 224 studio apartments - offered for the first time in Woodlands - drew 632 applications, while 422 potential buyers chased the 182 three-room flats. Studios are priced indicatively from $57,000 to $80,000, with the three-roomers at $118,000 to $142,000. The 224 four-room flats - from $194,000 to $227,000 - attracted 1,239 applications. The 185 five-roomers, which will cost about $247,000 to $296,000, received 946 bids. The overall median cash-over-valuation for a resale flat in Woodlands was $15,000 in the fourth quarter of last year.
- The Straits Times, B3
Singapore remains the best place for Asian expats
Singapore is still the best place for Asian expatriates to live in, a global human resources consultancy said yesterday. Edging out Sydney and Kobe, which were ranked second and third, Singapore defended its top spot for a 10th year in ECA International's latest annual survey. Good infrastructure and healthcare facilities, low crime and health risks and decent air quality' are why Singapore topped the quality-of-life charts for Asian assignees. Poor air quality is a key reason why Hong Kong, despite rising up the charts with improved facilities for visitors, came in 11th, below other Asian cities such as Yokohama and Tokyo. In its study, Singapore was also ranked the most liveable Asian location for European expatriates, out of 49 Asian locations rated. Worldwide, Copenhagen offered the best quality of life to Europeans, followed by Antwerp and Brussels. Worldwide, Singapore was ranked 54th.
- The Business Times, P8
Mohamed Sultan Road building sold for $35.8m
A company owned by a member of the family that developed International Plaza has bought the freehold Le Mercier House in Mohamed Sultan Road for $35.8 million.The buyer of 65 Mohamed Sultan Road, Ka$h International Pte Ltd, also owns the property next door. The company is controlled by Cheong Keng Hooi, the group that developed International Plaza in Tanjong Pagar.The sale of 65 Mohamed Sultan Road was a private treaty deal brokered by Isabel Redrup Agency Pte Ltd.Although the building sits on about 14,200 sq ft of land currently, with 52,000 sq ft of built-up area, it has a plot ratio of 2.8, so rebuilding it will not allow for more than 39,000 sq ft of GFA in the future.'Plot ratio is the ratio of maximum permissible gross floor area to land area.If the authorities were to allow the existing 52,000 sq ft GFA to be retained in a new development on the site, the unit land price would be lower at about $688 psf per plot ratio.
- The Business Times, P28
(Also see, The Straits Times, B26)
New Orchard malls short of tenants
Between March and October last year, Mandarin Gallery secured tenants for 60 per cent of its net lettable area. But in the four months since, occupancy has increased only marginally with the makeover due to be completed in June. Signing up of new tenants has also slowed to a crawl at Far East Organization's Orchard Central, next to the Somerset MRT Station. Its occupancy has risen to just 65 per cent in the past four months. Ion Orchard - the other mall being built from scratch on Orchard Turn - said it was 50 per cent leased last September, at prices of up to $80 psf. On Monday, it declined to comment on its leasing progress, although it is slated to open in the third quarter of this year. Lend Lease Retail, which is building 313@Somerset, said in May last year that it expects to fully lease all its units by around the middle of this year. The malls are forging ahead to open as scheduled, even as visitor arrivals this year may drop by 6 per cent to 11 per cent and tourism spending is estimated to fall 15 per cent to 16 per cent.
- The Straits Times, B28
Malaysian property will consolidate in '09: DTZ
Malaysia’s property market will consolidate over the next six months after ending last year with a whimper. Despite the slump, DTZ does not anticipate immediate fire sales, but expects opportunities to emerge at attractive prices as investors demand higher yields.Investors from Singapore, Indonesia and the Middle East will still be keen to invest in Malaysian property because prices are lower than in other regional markets, DTZ believes. After two years of strong increases in rents and capital values, DTZ expects the office market to see 'some consolidation' - a situation it says will be healthy, as there is significant supply in the pipeline.
- The Business Times, P28
Interest rate cuts fail to lift UK property sector
As banks still refuse to lend to prospective home buyers, the rate cuts have 'done nothing to improve fluidity in the housing market', despite assisting home owners by lowering mortgage payments. The statement comes as the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors released data showing a continued slide in housing sales, with the number of transactions sinking to the lowest level since 1978. The average house in Britain is now worth £160,327 (S$342,503). Meanwhile, the number of new homes being built in England in 2009-10 is expected to drop to the lowest level in almost 90 years, according to the National Housing Federation.
- The Business Times, P27
Australian home loans rise on rate cuts, grants
Australian home loan approvals rose in January as government handouts and interest rate cuts spurred record demand among first-time property buyers. The number of loans granted to build or buy homes and apartments climbed 3.5 per cent to 55,628 from December, when they advanced a revised 6.7 per cent, the statistics bureau said in Sydney yesterday. The rate reductions have saved borrowers with an average A$250,000 home loan about A$600 a month. Around 90 per cent of property buyers in Australia have variable rate mortgages. An index measuring construction fell 4.6 points in February to 29.5, the 12th consecutive month of shrinking building work, the Australian Industry Group said last week.
- The Business Times, P27
Mixed reactions to RM60b second stimulus
Analysts held mixed views yesterday about Malaysia's RM60 billion (S$24.9 billion) second stimulus package with the most bearish veering towards full blown recession this year (minus 5 per cent) while others cautiously agreed with Kuala Lumpur's forecast (between one and -1 per cent). The main disappointments for analysts and, indeed, the general public were the absence of measures that would have cut the costs of doing business in Malaysia. The package, which amounted to 8-9 per cent of GDP, comprised: RM15 billion fiscal spending; RM25 billion guaranteed funds; RM10 billion through projects through Khazanah Holdings; RM7 billion private finance initiatives (PFI), and RM3 billion in tax initiatives. The RM15 billion spending package is likely to be channelled to small infrastructure projects - refurbishment, maintenance, new rural roads, etc - including RM2 billion for the construction of a new low cost carrier terminal at the international airport.
- The Business Times, P10
China expands yuan trade with Asian, African nations
China is expanding trading in yuan with some Asian and African countries after a pilot programme involving a few provinces.It is just about 10 weeks since China announced plans to allow two provinces, Yunnan province and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, to trade payments in yuan with 'neighbouring trade partners' in South-east Asia. It was meant to be a test drive before unveiling a full-scale programme on turning the yuan currency into an international one.The government expects some of the aid money to result in higher exports. A related development is the series of currency swap agreements that China has signed in the past few months, the latest one being with Malaysia. Similar deals have been inked with Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and the Hong Kong special administrative region.
- The Business Times, P11
Yudhoyono calls for lower interest rates
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked the banking industry to drastically cut interest rates for lending, so as to ease business costs, spur loan demand from consumers, and push forward economic growth, the Jakarta Post reported yesterday. He said that although banks have to follow the 'prudential' principle, they should start looking outward to help the business sector sustain the global crisis. Statistics from the central bank show that the banks' average lending rates slid from 14.2 per cent in the last week of December 2008 to 13.93 per cent by the second week of March, while deposit rates declined from 8.75 per cent to 8.32 per cent.
- The Business Times, P10