DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 11th and 12th July 2019

Singapore Real Estate

CapitaLand prices One Pearl Bank units from S$970,000
Real estate developer CapitaLand’s 99-year leasehold condo One Pearl Bank will be open for booking on July 20, with prices starting from S$970,000 for studio units. Known for its curved towers linked by sky bridges, the 39-storey condo occupies a land area of 82,376 square feet (sq ft) and is expected to be completed by 2023.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/capitaland-prices-one-pearl-bank-units-from-s970000
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/one-pearl-bank-opens-for-booking-next-week
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/one-pearl-bank-condominium-to-go-on-sale-capitaland-11712200
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/emphasis-community-one-pearl-bank-condo-goes-sale

E-applications to start for Piermont Grand, 2019’s first EC launch
E-applications for Piermont Grand, this year’s first executive condominium (EC) launch, will start this coming weekend from July 12 to July 22, with bookings to be conducted on July 27. The 820-unit EC is a project developed by City Developments Limited (CDL) and TID which overlooks My Waterway@Punggol. CDL did not comment on the pricing of the project.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/e-applications-to-start-for-piermont-grand-2019s-first-ec-launch
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/piermont-grand-ec-open-for-applications-this-weekend

Retail podium, three office floors at 30 Raffles Place on the market
A four-level retail podium and the three lowest office floors designated for a banking hall in a revamp of the former Chevron House have been put up for sale through an expression of interest exercise. The 32-storey property at 30 Raffles Place is being spruced up at a cost of about S$110 million, The Business Times understands.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/retail-podium-three-office-floors-at-30-raffles-place-on-the-market
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/raffles-hotels-retail-arcade-reopens-with-wider-mix-of-tenants

Singapore’s building sector set to grow but downside risks loom
The residential and non-residential building sector in Singapore will grow at 3.2 per cent this year and 2.3 per cent in 2020, supported by a strong pipeline of projects, according to Fitch Solutions Macro Research. But the firm warned of risks to its forecasts which include uncertainty surrounding US-China trade tensions and the possibility of a recession occurring within the next few quarters.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapores-building-sector-set-to-grow-but-downside-risks-loom
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/building-sector-to-grow-32-but-risks-abound-fitch

Property investment sales up 49% in second quarter
Real estate investment sales surged 49 per cent quarter on quarter on the back of big-ticket office-sector deals. The second quarter of the year recorded S$6.7 billion in real estate investment sales, with 52 per cent of that figure coming from commercial deals, said a Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) report.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/property-investment-sales-up-49-in-second-quarter

Singapore condo rents dip again in June, HDB rents edge up: SRX flash data
Rents for non-landed private properties continued to soften for the second straight month while that for HDB flats edged up again, according to flash data from real estate portal SRX Property. Condominium and private apartment rents dipped 0.2 per cent in June from May, after inching down by the same rate in May.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-condo-rents-dip-again-in-june-hdb-rents-edge-up-srx-flash-data
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/condo-rents-dip-again-but-those-for-hdb-flats-inch-up-1878-4622
https://www.srx.com.sg/research/54971/non-landed-private-residential-rents-and-volumes-decline-in-june–hdb-rental-prices-rise-by-04

Singapore Economy

Singapore Q2 GDP growth comes in flat, far below expectations: flash data
Singapore’s full-year economic forecast could be cut again, amid market fears of a looming recession, as second-quarter flash data out on Friday showed a much deeper slowdown than had been feared. In the latest whammy to predictions, year-on-year gross domestic product (GDP) growth looks set to ease to a flattish 0.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2019. This is the slowest quarterly growth since the throes of the Great Recession in mid-2009, when the economy shrank by 1.2 per cent.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-q2-gdp-growth-comes-in-flat-far-below-expectations-flash-data
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-economy-grows-just-01-in-q2-lowest-in-decade-and-worse-than-expected
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-economy-growth-gdp-q2-lowest-in-decade-11713694
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/singapore-economy-slows-further-01-q2-mti-flash-estimates

Singapore is top maritime centre for 6th straight year
For the sixth year running, Singapore has clinched the top spot among the world’s maritime centres in the Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development Index. The Republic beat 42 other cities such as Hong Kong, which ranked second, as well as London, which was third. Rounding out the top five maritime centres in the rankings were Shanghai (fourth) and Dubai (fifth).
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/singapore-is-top-maritime-centre-for-6th-straight-year

Companies’ Brief

Ascendas India Trust to acquire 7th warehouse in India for 2.15b rupees
Ascendas India Trust (a-iTrust) is planning to finance the construction of an additional warehouse in western India and acquire it upon completion for a total investment of around 2.15 billion Indian rupees (S$42.1 million). The warehouse is to be located in the Arshiya Free Trade Warehousing Zone (FTWZ) in Panvel near Mumbai in western India, and will have a total leasable area of 325,503 square feet (sq ft), the trustee-manager of the mainboard-listed business trust said on Thursday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/ascendas-india-trust-to-acquire-7th-warehouse-in-india-for-215b-rupees
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/ascendas-trust-to-build-7th-warehouse-in-western-india

Keppel Land, Vietnamese firm to build homes in Ho Chi Minh City
Keppel Land, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Monestine, is partnering Vietnamese developer Phu Long Real Estate Corporation to develop residences in Ho Chi Minh City, expected to cost over 7,400 billion dong (S$439 million). According to an exchange filing on Thursday, Monestine entered a conditional share purchase agreement with Phu Long to acquire a 60 per cent interest in three land parcels for 1,304 billion dong.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/keppel-land-vietnamese-firm-to-build-homes-in-ho-chi-minh-city

SPH Reit Q3 DPU rises 1.5% to 1.39 cents
Contributions from its purchases of malls in Singapore and Australia boosted results for retail landlord SPH Reit for its third quarter ended May 31. Distribution per unit (DPU) climbed 1.5 per cent to 1.39 Singapore cents from 1.37 cents in the preceding year, and Q3 income available for distribution grew 4.8 per cent to S$36.8 million from the previous year.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/sph-reit-q3-dpu-rises-15-to-139-cents
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/sph-reit-posts-q3-dpu-of-139-cents-up-from-137-cents

OUE C-Reit, H-Trust merger deal ‘fair’ and ‘based on normal commercial terms’: IFAs
The independent financial advisers (IFAs) of OUE Commercial Reit (C-Reit) and OUE Hospitality Trust (H-Trust) have advised the directors of both trusts to recommend unitholders “vote in favour” of the merger at separate upcoming extraordinary general meetings (EGM). Under the proposed scheme, OUE C-Reit will acquire OUE H-Trust by paying OUE H-Trust holders…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/oue-c-reit-h-trust-merger-deal-fair-and-based-on-normal-commercial-terms-ifas
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/oue-c-reit-h-trust-merger-deal-fair-and-based-on-normal-commercial-terms

Sun Venture granted exclusive due diligence for 71 Robinson Rd
A sale is in the works for 71 Robinson Road. The Business Times understands that property investment group Sun Venture has been granted exclusive due diligence with a view to buy the 15-storey office block. The pricing is slightly under S$2,800 per square foot of net lettable area (NLA), which would translate to an absolute price in the region of S$660 million.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/sun-venture-granted-exclusive-due-diligence-for-71-robinson-rd

JustCo to open Manulife Centre co-working space later this year
Co-working space provider JustCo will open an outlet at Manulife Centre later this year, it said yesterday. The facility will occupy around 50,000 sq ft over two levels of the building in Bras Basah’s Art and Heritage District. It is expected to house about 1,000 members and bring JustCo’s portfolio to 33 centres across eight regional cities – Singapore, Bangkok, Shanghai, Jakarta, Seoul, Sydney, Melbourne and Taipei.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/justco-to-open-manulife-centre-co-working-space-later-this-year

Capital World to raise S$18m by issuing shares to 2 private investors
Property firm Capital World, which has recently struggled to repay loans, is looking to raise some S$18 million by issuing new ordinary shares to two private investors. The Catalist-listed firm said on Wednesday it has entered into a legally-binding term sheet with Yuan Zhiwei and Chng Chor Tong to issue about 916 million new shares at S$0.020 per share. The issue price represents a 13.04 per cent…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/capital-world-to-raise-s18m-by-issuing-shares-to-2-private-investors

Views, Reviews, Forum and Others

Innovation, technology can help unlock opportunities in APAC real estate
Structural people-driven trends such as ageing populations, labour shortages, changing consumer preferences and climate change will continue to present unique challenges for the real estate sector, both globally and within the Asia-Pacific region as real estate occupiers and owners increasingly adapt and innovate to mitigate associated risks and unlock opportunities.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/innovation-technology-can-help-unlock-opportunities-in-apac-real-estate

It’s not debt but how Reits leverage on it that matters
Early this month, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it was reviewing the 45 per cent leverage ceiling for Singapore-listed real estate investment trusts (S-Reits). The S-Reit sector has been lobbying for higher leverage – a measure of how well capitalised a company is as defined by its debt-to-asset ratio – for some time now.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/its-not-debt-but-how-reits-leverage-on-it-that-matters