DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 11th August 2016

Top Story

Singapore condo resale prices fall 0.4% in July, erasing June’s gain
Resale prices of non-landed private homes in Singapore eased 0.4 per cent in July 2016 over the previous month, based on SRX Property’s flash estimate for last month released on Wednesday. The drop contrasts with a revised 0.4 per cent month-on-month gain in the index for June 2016. SRX Property had earlier indicated a 0.5 per cent increase for June based on its flash estimate for that month. The July price drop applied to all three geographical regions. Prices contracted 0.5 per cent in Core Central Region (CCR), 0.6 per cent in the city-fringe or Rest of Central Region (RCR) and 0.3 per cent in the suburbs or Outside Central Region (OCR).
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-condo-resale-prices-fall-04-in-july-erasing-junes-gain

Resale condo prices in CCR up 6.2% y-o-y: SRX
Despite a 0.5 per cent month-on-month decline in resale prices of condos and apartments in the Core Central Region (CCR) in July 2016, prices in the region were up 6.2 per cent year on year. This is according to SRX Property flash estimates for last month released on Wednesday. The CCR has outperformed the other two regions tracked by SRX’s resale price index for non-landed private homes, on a y-o-y basis.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/resale-condo-prices-in-ccr-up-62-y-o-y-srx

Buyers back in condo resale market
Transactions of resale private condominiums have risen steadily in recent months as buyers return to the market. An estimated 770 non-landed private homes were resold last month, up a whopping 31.4 per cent from the 586 units moved in the same month last year, said SRX Property yesterday. The sharp increase underlines a trend of increasing sales, although prices have taken a slight dip.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/buyers-back-in-condo-resale-market?login=true

Singapore Economy

Singapore narrows 2016 GDP growth forecast to 1-2% as economy expands 2.1% in Q2 from a year ago
In line with the weaker global growth outlook, the Singapore economy is now expected to expand 1-2 per cent this year, after the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Thursday narrowed down its previous growth forecast of 1-3 per cent. The new official projection takes into account additional downside risks such as Brexit-related uncertainties, and the potential for spiking debt defaults in China amid rising corporate credit levels there.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-narrows-2016-gdp-growth-forecast-to-1-2-as-economy-expands-21-in-q2
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/government-lowers-upper-limit-of-singapores-2016-growth-forecast-to-2?login=true
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-narrows-2016/3032132.html
http://www.todayonline.com/business/singapore-gdp-q2

Divergence in business, consumer loan trends: is it worrying?
The gap between business and consumer loans growth may be widening, but economists are split on just how worrying the trend actually is. To DBS economist Irvin Seah, the growing divergence should be a wake-up call for consumers; he believes households should stop being “complacent” and avoid leveraging up any further.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/divergence-in-business-consumer-loan-trends-is-it-worrying

Masterclasses launched to help retailers boost productivity
To help retailers boost productivity, Singapore Productivity Centre (SPC) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) inked a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday (Aug 10), to launch a “Retail Best Practices Masterclass Series”. This comes at a time when challenges such as labour and rental costs are hurting retailers, said Minister of State for Manpower Teo Ser Luck.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/masterclasses-launched-to/3030760.html

Singapore Real Estate

City View DBSS flat fetches $1.1m
A five-room flat at City View @ Boon Keng has scored a record price of $1.1 million for a Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) development. The record comes despite a depressed resale market, underscoring what housing experts say is a persistent demand by some buyers for premium units in central locations. Units that can command such sky-high prices are “outliers”, they note.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/city-view-dbss-flat-fetches-11m?login=true

The Agape up for sale, guide price at S$8-10 million
The Agape, a three-storey building with a basement carpark, is up for sale by expression of interest, with a guide price in the range of S$8 million to S$10 million. Located at 21 Yung Ho Road, it is located directly opposite the entertainment complex Superbowl and near Jurong Gateway. The building has a land area of 62,087 sq ft and a gross floor area of about 80,676 sq ft.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/the-agape-up-for-sale-guide-price-at-s8-10-million

Uncertain future for China Square toy shops
Long known as a haven for toy collectors and for its Sunday flea market, China Square Central could be getting a shake-up. Many shops in the mall were recently told that their leases have been renewed only until next year. The toy stores and collectors are worried that they may be asked to move out soon. One reason for their concern is a new hotel building that is coming up beside the mall, and which is due to be completed by the middle of 2019.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/uncertain-future-for-china-square-toy-shops

Companies’ Brief

JTC awards industrial site at Tuas South Link 2 to SE Global
JTC has awarded the tender for the industrial site at Tuas South Link 2 (Plot 7) to the highest tenderer, SE Global Group Pte Ltd, at S$2.68 million. The tender for the 5,332.7-square-metre site was launched on May 31, 2016, and closed on July 26. Five bids had been submitted.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/jtc-awards-industrial-site-at-tuas-south-link-2-to-se-global

Sim Lian shoots up on privatisation offer
Shares of construction and property development firm Sim Lian Group jumped 13.3 per cent or 12.5 cents on Wednesday to close at S$1.065 after it resumed trading. This followed Monday’s announcement of a privatisation offer from a consortium led by the company’s founder. The stock price has not been at this level for a year. It was also close to the price of S$1.08 per share that the offer vehicle Coronation 3G is offering in the voluntary conditional cash offer for all the outstanding shares in Sim Lian that it doesn’t already own.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/sim-lian-shoots-up-on-privatisation-offer

City Developments posts S$133.8m Q2 earnings, 32.4% jump in revenue
Singapore property developer City Developments Ltd (CDL) said on Thursday its net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2016, stayed flat at about S$133.8 million. This was despite revenue growing 32.4 per cent to S$1.1 billion, underpinned by the revenue and profit recognition from Lush Acres, a fully sold executive condominium.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/city-developments-posts-s1338m-q2-earnings-324-jump-in-revenue
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/cdl-earnings-steady-for-q2-as-324-revenue-jump-meets-higher-cost-of-sales?login=true

IREIT Global achieves DPU of 1.6 Singapore cents in Q2
IREIT Global’s available distribution per unit (DPU) for the second quarter ended 30 June was 1.60 Singapore cents, down from its forecast of 1.75 cents. This was due to a larger than expected unit base. The Q2 actual available DPU was computed based on 616.2 million units entitled to distribution while the Q2 forecast available DPU was computed based on 428.1 million units entitled to distribution as in the prospectus.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ireit-global-achieves-dpu-of-16-singapore-cents-in-q2

Metro earnings dive on store closures, absence of one-off gain
Store closures and a significant one-off gain in the year-ago period weighed on first-quarter results at Metro Holdings. Net profit plunged 74.1 per cent to S$9.74 million from S$37.54 million the previous year, the group said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Wednesday evening.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/metro-earnings-dive-on-store-closures-absence-of-one-off-gain

Views, Reviews & Forum

Home owners should take more interest in how condos are run
It is true that turnout at annual general meetings (AGMs) of a condominium management corporation is often low (“Require condo management to submit accounts to MND” by Mr Chan Kai Yan; yesterday). Thus, it appears that most home owners lack interest in the running of their own estates. Furthermore, most of them assume that the responsibility of running the estate and the safekeeping of all maintenance fees and sinking funds have been duly delegated to the elected management council, and that if things go wrong, their recourse is legal action.
http://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/home-owners-should-take-more-interest-in-how-condos-are-run