New home sales plunge 44%
By Romesh Navaratnarajah:New private home sales in Singapore slumped 44.2 percent in November, with only 14,087 units sold excluding executive condominiums (ECs), according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). The best performing location last month was the Core Central...
Continue Reading • 18 Dec 2012
Sembawang EC site sold for S$211.92m
By Romesh Navaratnarajah:The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has awarded an executive condominium (EC) site at Sembawang Crescent/Sembawang Drive (pictured) to JBE Holdings. The developer submitted the top bid of S$211.92 million.The 21,718.4 sq m site could yield some 650 housing units and...
Continue Reading • 18 Dec 2012
URA awards tender for Alexandra View site
By Romesh Navaratnarajah:The public tender for a 6,501.4 sq m residential site (pictured) at Alexandra View (Parcel B) has been awarded by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to Singland Homes, after it offered the highest bid of S$332.68 million. The sale of the site had closed on 11...
Continue Reading • 18 Dec 2012
Village @ Pasir Panjang to revive West Coast charm
By Romesh Navaratnarajah:The 148-unit Village @ Pasir Panjang condominium (pictured) looks to recapture some of the historic charm of Singapore’s West Coast – the kampung ambiance of old Pasir Panjang and the façade of black and white houses of the 1950s. The project by...
Continue Reading • 18 Dec 2012
HUDC unit sale breaks record
By Romesh Navaratnarajah:A spacious maisonette at Shunfu Road has broken the record for the most expensive HUDC unit. The house was sold to a young Singaporean couple for S$1.33 million beating the previous record of S$1.28 million set in September for a similar unit in the area, reported The...
Continue Reading • 17 Dec 2012
S'pore real estate outlook encouraging
By Romesh Navaratnarajah:Despite a weaker economic environment dampened by issues in the US and Eurozone, Malaysian developer Selangor Dredging Bhd (SDB) remains optimistic towards Singapore’s private property market.Yeoh Guan Jin, Communications and Corporate Affairs Manager at SDB, said...
Continue Reading • 17 Dec 2012
Overseas property still popular in 2013: report
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Wealthy Asian buyers will continue to be on the lookout for overseas residential properties next year, according to a Knight Frank report. Based on data this year, it is clear that mainstream markets in the Asia Pacific region have outperformed prime markets.This is due...
Continue Reading • 17 Dec 2012
Home prices fall for five quarters claim is true
By Andrew Batt:Claims published last week which suggested that private home prices in Singapore have fallen for five consecutive quarters, once adjusted for inflation, were questioned by a large number of PropertyGuru readers.In a report published on Wednesday by The Global Property Guide and...
Continue Reading • 17 Dec 2012
Rental market strong, but more vacant units
By Romesh Navaratnarajah:Singapore’s residential leasing market is set to record stellar growth this year with the number of leases between January to October 2012 at 42,139 – just 2,923 leases below last year’s 45,062, according to a Savills report.The year’s total is...
Continue Reading • 14 Dec 2012
Property investors still bullish on Asia: survey
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Property investors in Asia have got a positive outlook for the region’s property market in 2013, with 70 percent likely to expand their investment and property portfolio, according to Colliers International’s Global Investor Sentiment Survey 2012.The survey...
Continue Reading • 14 Dec 2012
8 bids for Sembawang EC site
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: A 21,718.4 sq m executive condominium (EC) site at Sembawang Crescent/Sembawang Drive (pictured) received a total of eight bids when its public tender closed yesterday, said the Housing and Development Board (HDB).Offered on a 99-year lease, the site has a maximum...
Continue Reading • 14 Dec 2012
Property market too hot to stop?
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Singapore’s property market is booming despite a series of negative factors, including global economic uncertainties, a subdued local economy and looming supply of new homes. Even after the implementation of various property curbs, the market has been surprisingly...
Continue Reading • 13 Dec 2012
Auction deals fall to lowest in 15 years
By Romesh Navaratnarajah:The residential sector claimed 44 percent or S$25.5 million of the total S$57.9 million worth of properties auctioned this year, according to Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). This is a marked improvement from last year when commercial properties took up 50 percent of deals...
Continue Reading • 13 Dec 2012
Singland submits top bid for Alexandra View site
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: A 6,501.5 sq m residential site (pictured) at Alexandra View (Parcel B) attracted a total of six bids, with the highest offer submitted by Singland Homes at S$332.68 million when its public tender closed yesterday. Launched by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on 7...
Continue Reading • 12 Dec 2012
Asian property markets show signs of weakness
By Andrew Batt: Global housing markets posted mixed signals during the full year ending Q3 2012 according to the latest survey of global house price trends by the Global Property Guide. The bad news is strongly concentrated in Europe as the scale of the European downturn, the sheer size of the...
Continue Reading • 12 Dec 2012
Healthy interest for The Whitley Residences, Village
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: The Whitley Residences (pictured) by Hoi Hup Realty sold 19 freehold cluster homes at around S$5 million each during a preview last Sunday. This translates to an average price of about S$850 psf, taking into account the 12 percent discount and absorption of the three...
Continue Reading • 11 Dec 2012
Sing Holdings clinches EC site in Punggol
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Developer Sing Holdings has secured the tender for an executive condominium (EC) site at Punggol Field Walk/Punggol East (pictured), said the Housing and Development Board (HDB).The company submitted the top bid of S$162.1 million or S$3,776.73 psm on the maximum...
Continue Reading • 11 Dec 2012
S'poreans more optimistic despite property price concerns
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: With expectations that HDB and private property prices will climb in the next half year, the property Affordability Sentiment Index (ASI) of PropertyGuru's latest Property Sentiment Survey dipped further in Q3 2012.The study, which was done in collaboration with Blackbox...
Continue Reading • 10 Dec 2012
Penthouses at The Topiary EC sold out
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: The Topiary (pictured), a new executive condominium in Seletar Hills, sold all 16 penthouse units within 90 minutes on its first morning of bookings last Friday, an indication of the strong demand for EC projects.The Straits Times reported that the showflat at Fernvale...
Continue Reading • 10 Dec 2012
URA awards Thomson Road white site at S$492.5m
By Romesh Navaratnarajah: A white site located at Thomson Road/Irrawaddy Road (pictured) has been awarded to a consortium led by Hoi Hup Realty after it submitted the top bid of S$492.5 million.This translates to S$17,562.32 psm on the gross floor area (GFA) of 28,043 sq m, according to the Urban...
Continue Reading • 10 Dec 2012