DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 12th October 2017

TOP STORY

Home rental market remains subdued in Sept: SRX Property
Singapore’s housing rental market stayed in the doldrums in September, going by SRX Property data, and is expected to remain subdued for the rest of the year. Although the flash estimates showed a month-on-month uptick in rents for private non-landed homes in the prime and suburban regions last month, analysts believe that overall rents will only stabilise next year when the supply of completed units tapers off sharply.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/home-rental-market-remains-subdued-in-sept-srx-property
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/condo-private-apartment-rents-slip-01-in-september-hdb-rents-slide-09
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/housing-rental-market-still-weak-last-month
https://www.srx.com.sg/research/41502/non-landed-private-rents-decrease-by-01-hdb-rents-decrease-by-09-in-september-2017

Singapore’s hidden home-sharing economy is quietly on the rise
Sizing up the home-sharing industry in Singapore has become the economist’s puzzle as the aspiring “Smart Nation” grapples with resistance to next-door strangers. Despite government rules restricting the likes of Airbnb Inc operating in Singapore, there are signs that home-sharing has become more prolific in the city state.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapores-hidden-home-sharing-economy-is-quietly-on-the-rise
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/singapores-hidden-home-sharing-economy-is-quietly-on-the-rise
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-11/singapore-s-hidden-home-sharing-economy-is-quietly-on-the-rise

SINGAPORE ECONOMY

Nikkei index nears 21-year high amid positive economic data
Driven by improved earnings and optimism over the strength of its economy, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 Index on Wednesday hit a closing high not seen in almost 21 years. The 20,881.27-point close is the highest since December 1996, though still a distance from its all-time closing high of 38,915.87 at the end of 1989.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/stocks/nikkei-index-nears-21-year-high-amid-positive-economic-data

Foreign firms allowed to re-domicile to Singapore from Oct 11
Foreign companies can now transfer their registration from their original jurisdiction to Singapore. This will allow foreign companies to re-domicile to Singapore, instead of having to set up a subsidiary here, reducing operational disruption to the company.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/foreign-firms-allowed-to-re-domicile-to-singapore-from-oct-11

Singapore to host Alibaba research lab
With a fresh, bold move, Alibaba Group is set to extend its influence across Singapore and the world over. The Internet company founded by Jack Ma on Wednesday announced the launch of the Alibaba Damo Academy, a new US$15 billion global innovation research programme.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/technology/singapore-to-host-alibaba-research-lab
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/singapore-set-to-house-one-of-seven-alibaba-rd-facilities

SINGAPORE REAL ESTATE

German shipping group picks up Middle Rd building for S$60m
The Prospex, a nine-storey retail and office building next to Bugis+, is being sold for S$60 million to a German shipping group. BT understands that the buyer is Bernhard Schulte Investment Holding, part of the Hamburg-based Schulte Group, a leading independent family-owned shipowner and ship manager. The group’s unit Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement currently has offices in leased premises at Gateway East on Beach Road.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/german-shipping-group-picks-up-middle-rd-building-for-s60m

Braddell View gets closer to kick-starting process
Former HUDC estate Braddell View is one step closer to jumping on the collective sale bandwagon. Mr Alex Teo, chairman of the Management Corporation Strata Title, told The Straits Times yesterday that 493 voted on Tuesday in support of forming the collective sales committee to kick-start the process, while 28 voted against.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/braddell-view-gets-closer-to-kick-starting-process

Sim Lim Square forms committee in first attempt
Sim Lim Square, Singapore’s gadget central, has taken the first step in its maiden collective sale attempt, with the formation of a sales committee. The six-storey mall in Rochor Canal Road is trying for a collective sale amid declining footfall in recent years, industry observers say.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/sim-lim-square-forms-committee-in-first-attempt

COMPANIES’ BRIEF

Banyan Tree marks homecoming with resort in Mandai
Singapore hospitality group Banyan Tree Holdings will open its first Singapore resort on a 4.6-hectare site near the Singapore Zoo in Mandai by 2023. This comes after more than two decades of searching “long and hard” for project opportunities on its home turf, including Sentosa, and not finding any.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/banyan-tree-marks-homecoming-with-resort-in-mandai
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environment/banyan-tree-to-run-resort-at-upcoming-mandai-nature-hub
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environment/no-conflict-of-interest-in-selection-developer
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/banyan-tree-to-open-resort-in-mandai-singapore-9299630
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/mandai-resort-could-be-novel-staycation-option-and-draw-tourists-who-enjoy-tropics

First Reit completes purchase of hospital, mall in Buton, Indonesia
First Real Estate Investment Trust (First Reit) has completed its acquisition of Siloam Hospitals Buton and Lippo Plaza Buton, increasing its total number of properties across Indonesia, South Korea and Singapore to 19. The total purchase consideration of S$28.5 million for the Buton property and value-added tax of S$2.71 million was financed from internal cash and a drawdown from a bank loan obtained by First Reit, it announced on the Singapore Exchange late on Tuesday.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/first-reit-completes-purchase-of-hospital-mall-in-buton-indonesia

Frasers Centrepoint acquires two warehouses in Germany
Frasers Centrepoint Limited (FCL) is entrenching its presence in Germany further with the acquisition of three companies that hold two warehouse facilities in Germany. In a late night regulatory filing on Tuesday, FCL said its indirect subsidiary Frasers Property Investments (Europe) has, through wholly owned subsidiaries, entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement to acquire three companies in Germany for 42.4 million euros (about S$67.83 million).
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/frasers-centrepoint-acquires-two-warehouses-in-germany

Indiabulls Properties Investment Trust gets takeover offer of 90 S cents apiece
Indiabulls Properties Investment Trust (IPIT) has received a takeover offer of 90 Singapore cents per unit from Indiabulls Real Estate. The voluntary unconditional cash offer by Brenformexa, wholly owned by Indiabulls Real Estate, for IPIT units represents a premium of 252.9 per cent or more than three times the unit’s last transacted price in June last year prior to its trading suspension.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/indiabulls-properties-investment-trust-gets-takeover-offer-of-90-s-cents-apiece

Surbana Jurong bags contract to build Yunnan township
Surbana Jurong has won its first contract in Baoshan city, Yunnan to build a township consisting of 26 blocks of over 2,000 housing units in an area of 418,000 square metres. The project, awarded by the Baoshan government, is expected to be completed in three years. The infrastructure consultancy will be responsible for, among other areas, architectural design, civil and structural engineering, and mechanical and electrical engineering.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/surbana-jurong-bags-contract-to-build-yunnan-township

VIEWS, REVIEWS & FORUM

Collective sales: Why some owners missed out
The collective-sale fever sweeping the property sector has created lots of winners – but there are still a number of owners who missed out on the jackpot because they sold too early. Some could well have had dreadfully bad timing, with no inkling of their neighbours’ plans to sell their properties en bloc. But others may well have been disappointed at the failure of previous bids to sell en bloc – and there have been plenty of those – and did not want to go through the agony again.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/collective-sales-why-some-owners-missed-out