DAILY NEWS

Daily News 11th December 2018

Singapore Real Estate

Singapore property ‘standstill’ expected next year
Just when Singapore’s residential property market was reviving after a four-year slump, government moves to curb the exuberance might play spoiler going into the new year. Home prices that are forecast to climb as much as 10 per cent this year could remain flat in 2019 and may decline as much as 3 per cent, estimates from property brokers compiled by Bloomberg News show. Home sales that lagged behind 2017 levels this year may once again be below that mark in 2019, according to forecasts.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-property-standstill-expected-next-year
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-10/singapore-s-property-measures-to-tame-residential-market-in-2019?srnd=premium-asia

Park View Mansions tries for en bloc again with 22% lower reserve price
Park View Mansions will relaunch on Wednesday its collective sale tender with a 22 per cent lower reserve price than before, making it the latest case of owners dialling down their expectations amid a quieter en bloc market. More than 80 per cent of the owners at the 191,974 square feet (sq ft) development right by Jurong Lake Gardens have agreed to a reserve price of S$250 million, down from S$320 million in March, “in view of current market conditions”, Huttons Asia said in a statement.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/park-view-mansions-tries-for-en-bloc-again-with-22-lower-reserve-price
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/park-view-mansions-tries-for-en-bloc-again-with-22-lower-reserve-price

Singapore Economy

Trade tensions seen among 2019’s top business risks
Trade tensions between China and the United States, nationalist politics and increased environmental regulation are among the top risks for firms in 2019, according to specialist risk consultancy Control Risks’ annual look at the year ahead. “In 2019, what started as a trade war will ultimately harden into a more permanent stance,” said Control Risks chief executive officer Richard Fenning in the RiskMap report on Dec 11. “Companies in a wide orbit around this stand-off will feel the political and economic impact.”
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/trade-tensions-seen-among-2019s-top-business-risks

Singapore shoppers 2nd in Asia-Pacific for buying foreign goods online: Study
Online shoppers in Singapore are second only to their counterparts from Hong Kong in the Asia-Pacific when it comes to making purchases from overseas, particularly from Chinese websites. An Ipsos study commissioned by PayPal found around 73 per cent of online shoppers here bought items from overseas in the past year, with 14 per cent shopping exclusively on foreign websites. Ipsos is a market research and consulting firm based in France.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/spore-shoppers-2nd-in-asia-pacific-for-buying-foreign-goods-online-study

Companies’ Brief

AIMS unitholders fend off another wind-up bid
Unitholders have again shot down an attempt to wind up dual-listed AIMS Property Securities Fund, in the second vote in four days. Votes representing about 43.4 per cent of all units were cast against the winding-up at a meeting in Sydney on Monday – beating out the yea-sayers by a margin of roughly eight points.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/aims-unitholders-fend-off-another-wind-up-bid

F&B player Katrina Group enters hospitality segment with purchase of Straits Organization
Katrina Group, which owns and operates restaurants such as Bali Thai, Streats and So Pho, completed on Monday its purchase of serviced residences provider Straits Organization for S$358,000. That marks the group’s entrance into the hospitality segment. Straits Organization was founded in December 2017 and manages around 125 units in 15 different apartments and condominiums across Singapore.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/fb-player-katrina-group-enters-hospitality-segment-with-purchase-of-straits

EpiCentre’s proposed S$400m reverse takeover is off
EpiCentre Holdings’ S$400 million proposed reverse takeover of two real estate companies, which was supposed to reposition the firm as a regional property player after it recently exited the local Apple reseller business, is now off. EpiCentre said in a Singapore Exchange announcement on Monday that it, MacroCap Asia Capital – owner of Thai property developer Asia ThaiYuan – and Chinese hotel manager Gloria International had failed to agree on the terms of agreements for the proposed acquisition.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/epicentres-proposed-s400m-reverse-takeover-is-off