Sources recently told BT that CapitaLand has met with property valuers to talk about the valuation process. CapitaLand is Singapore’s biggest developer in terms of market capitalisation.
Liew Mun Leong, CapitaLand chief executive, chaired the meeting. Present at the meeting were CapitaLand employees, valuers and consultants from Singapore’s top property firms, and the former chief valuer. For more than an hour, Liew tried to understand the process of property valuations.
Property valuers, land valuers, land economists, real estate valuers, or simply valuers are professionals who assess land, property and other items. They also provide advice on the commercial use and administration of property and land.
When asked about the meeting, the CapitaLand spokesman said the company has regular meetings with professional organisations and partners involved in real estate, such as architects, banks, contractors, accountants, designers and valuers.
“During these dialogues we exchange views about industry practices, market outlook and other general aspects,” according to the spokesman. “There are no direct references to our properties or projects,” the spokesman added.
Majority of property developers in Singapore have their investment projects revalued annually. Moreover, many include revaluation gains and/or losses in their profit-and-loss figures.
For example in 2008, because of the worsening global economic conditions, pressure is placed on real estate values. As a result, CapitaLand has experienced downward revaluations on their properties. In the last quarter of 2008, CapitaLand recorded a fair value loss of $58.9 million. The loss mainly came from the revaluation of CapitaLand’s portfolio of investment properties in Australia.