DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 23, 24 & 25 January 2016

Singapore Economy

Govt to review ways to cut business costs
The government is looking at ways to make it easier for companies to do business in Singapore, said Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat on Friday. “We will review existing regulations to reduce compliance burden and costs, particularly for small companies, as well as further leverage information-communications technology to deliver improved services to businesses,” he said in his ministry’s addendum to the President’s Address.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/govt-to-review-ways-to-cut-business-costs

Singapore Real Estate

The state of Singapore’s property market (Pg 66)
http://stepaper.straitstimes.com/jr/jrpc.php?date=2016-01-23&page=1&ed=1

Home prices continued to fall last year
Prices of homes in both the HDB and private markets continued to fall last year, data out yesterday showed. Housing Board resale prices dipped 1.6 per cent, but the decline has likely stabilised as values in the fourth quarter actually rose a modest 0.1 per cent.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/home-prices-continued-to-fall-last-year

HDB, private home prices decline at slower pace
Buyers taking advantage of lower prices helped bolster the public and private property markets last year. Prices in both sectors fell at a slower pace thanks to a slight uptick in transactions. Experts noted that Housing Board resale prices seem to have stabilised, but the decline in private home values looks set to continue amid turmoil in the equity markets.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/hdb-private-home-prices-decline-at-slower-pace

Tenants call the shots in private rental market
Home owners and investors ruled the roost for several years during the buoyant economic times, but the shoe is on the other foot now with tenants able to pick and choose amid a flood of property available. Just ask landlord Celine Tan. Ms Tan’s potential tenant demanded that the unit be fully furnished, have a bigger TV set, free servicing of air-conditioners and even new cutlery and bath towels. http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/tenants-call-the-shots-in-private-rental-market

HDB resale prices up for first time in 10 quarters
Public housing resale prices rose by 0.1 per cent quarter on quarter in Q4 2015, culminating in a full-year decline of 1.6 per cent. This was according to data released by the Housing & Development Board (HDB) on Friday. It is the first quarterly increase in 10 quarters, coming after a 6 per cent price drop in 2014.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/hdb-resale-prices-up-for-first-time-in-10-quarters
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/hdb-resale-prices-edge-up-in-q4-in-continued-stability

2016 office vacancy rate seen hitting double digits
Commercial property prices and rentals fell further in the fourth quarter of last year, as supply outpaced demand. According to figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), office rents fell by 1.8 per cent in Q4, albeit at a slower pace of decline than the 2.9 per cent decrease in Q3.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/2016-office-vacancy-rate-seen-hitting-double-digits

S’pore ‘still a good bet’ for property investments
If you had a million dollars and the chance to buy property any place in the world, where would you pick? Singapore still looks like a good bet, said property experts at the two-day SPH Digital Property Seminar and Showcase yesterday. They were responding to a question during a panel session where participants got to pick their brains.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/spore-still-a-good-bet-for-property-investments?login=true

Strata commercial property deals seen to stay tepid this year
Strata commercial property transactions are expected to remain tepid this year, after plunging to their lowest levels in 2015 since the global financial crisis, as high vacancies in recently completed strata commercial developments and waning rents keep wary buyers on the sidelines.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/banking-finance/higher-fd-rates-offer-a-reprieve-in-volatile-times

Blueprint to build building skills gets off the drawing board
Singaporeans in the building and construction sector will be able to use their SkillsFuture credit on 300 courses related to their industry. A five-year manpower plan for the built environment sector was launched yesterday by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), which signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on SkillsFuture initiatives with eight built- environment-sector associations, including the Singapore Contractors Association Limited and the Institution of Engineers Singapore.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/manpower/blueprint-to-build-building-skills-gets-off-the-drawing-board

BCA suspends use of faulty lift in Punggol
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/bca-suspends-use-of-faulty-lift-in-punggol?login=true&paywallerror-type=concurrentLimitExceeded
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/punggol-hdb-block-s-lift/2453134.html

Companies’ Brief

Singapore property
Property developers are trading at a 45 per cent discount to RNAV, their lowest levels post-global financial crisis and below -1 SD discount to mean. We think it is time to relook the sector as much of the extreme pessimism has been priced in.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/wealth/brokers-take-37

More DC Reits ‘could eventually list in Asia’
The trend of data centre Reits (real estate investment trusts) hasn’t really kicked off in Asia, but it would be “inevitable” in the long term, a senior executive from Digital Realty (DRL), the first data centre Reit to ever list globally, believes.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/more-dc-reits-could-eventually-list-in-asia

Stocks rout adds to property market woes
Some analysts believe the private housing market is a resilient one, given the rise in volume of private home sales last year and the mere 0.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter dip in the official private housing price index in the fourth quarter – the smallest fall since prices peaked in Q3 2013.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/stocks-rout-adds-to-property-market-woes

A-Reit’s Q3 DPU rises 10%; manager’s chief exec to retire in March
Contributions from new properties, asset enhancement initiatives and positive rental reversion on renewals led Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust (A-Reit) to post a 10 per cent jump in distribution per unit (DPU) for the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2015, to 3.946 Singapore cents from a year ago.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/a-reits-q3-dpu-rises-10-managers-chief-exec-toretire-in-march
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/invest/panellists-rationale-for-global-etfs-and-reitsselection?login=true http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/new-australia-spore-properties-boost-a-reitsdpu-by-99

CMTML sees positive rental reversions
Capitaland Mall Trust Management Limited (CMTML) is not ruling out quarters with negative rent reversions in the coming year. However, CMTML chief executive officer Wilson Tan stressed that while there will be downward pressure on rental reversions, he is still expecting positive rental reversions for the whole of 2016.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/cmtml-sees-positive-rental-reversions
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/capitaland-mall-trust-posts-07-rise-in-dpu-for-4th-quarter

HDB sells 7-year bonds
The Housing and Development Board on Friday sold S$1 billion seven-year bonds at 2.50 per cent amid volatile markets. Demand for the bonds was lower than expected as HDB has an option to upsize by S$600 million.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/banking-finance/hdb-sells-7-year-bonds