DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 13th Jun 2018

Top Story

Condo resale prices rise again to new high: SRX
The en bloc sale rally continued to give the private home market strength as resale private condominiums and apartments continued their climb in May to hit yet another high. Flash data from real estate portal SRX Property released on Tuesday also showed that the monthly price change for April 2018 was revised sharply upwards to 1.2 per cent, from the earlier estimate of 0.6 per cent.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/condo-resale-prices-rise-again-to-new-high-srx
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/resale-properties-on-the-march
https://www.srx.com.sg/research/48782/private-resale-non-landed-prices-up-12-in-may-volume-slides-down-by-06

Singapore Economy

Singapore retail sales a mixed bag; inches up 0.4% in April
Retail sales continued its lacklustre streak in April, ticking up marginally by 0.4 per cent compared to a year ago, dragged down by a sharp dip in computer and telecommunications equipment. This followed March’s 1.1 per cent drop in retail sales.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-retail-sales-a-mixed-bag-inches-up-04-in-april
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/infographics/retail-sales-a-mixed-bag-in-april-ticking-up-04
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-retail-sales-still-lacklustre-in-april

Singapore is the 9th most expensive Asian city for expats
Singapore is now the ninth most expensive Asian city for expatriates, coming behind Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Globally, the city-state squeezed back into the final spot in the top 20 last year after having fallen to 24th place in 2017, according to the latest cost of living survey published by data provider ECA International. This is still below Singapore’s peak in 2016, when it ranked 18th in the world.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-is-the-9th-most-expensive-asian-city-for-expats
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-back-among-top-20-most-expensive-cities-for-expats
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-20th-most-expensive-city-in-the-world-for-expats-10421000

Companies’ Brief

Far East’s Oasia Hotel Downtown wins best tall building award
Oasia Hotel Downtown in Singapore’s Tanjong Pagar has been named this year’s Best Tall Building Worldwide by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), a global authority on tall buildings and future cities that confers the award annually. The 27-storey skyscraper by developer Far East Organization and designed by award-winning architecture firm Woha features a plant-covered facade of red and green and outdoor communal spaces along its height, which CTBUH felt “connects to the green of the cityscape” and “provides respite and relief to its occupants, neighbours, and city”.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/far-easts-oasia-hotel-downtown-wins-best-tall-building-award

Frasers Property opens second development in Tianjin
Mainboard-listed Frasers Property said that its Frasers Hospitality business has opened Fraser Place Binhai Tianjin – its second property in Tianjin – on Tuesday, as the developer looks to double its footprint in China over the next few years. Binhai Tianjin is located in the residential neighbourhood of Beacon Hill in the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area and offers 224 serviced residences, from studios to two-bedroom apartments. Its first property in Tianjin – Fraser Place Tianjin – opened in 2016 in the Nankai district.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/frasers-property-opens-second-development-in-tianjin
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/frasers-hospitality-opens-second-tianjin-property

Long-time Credit Suisse staffers get new roles in investment banking
Credit Suisse announced two senior appointments in its South-east Asia investment banking business on Tuesday. Yvonne Voon, the new head of South-east Asia real estate in the bank’s investment banking and capital markets (IBCM) business, will be responsible for attracting clients and getting more real estate companies to use its advisory, capital markets and financing services.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/long-time-credit-suisse-staffers-get-new-roles-in-investment-banking

Crest Nicholson margins hit by higher costs, flat house prices
British housebuilder Crest Nicholson Holdings Plc forecast full year operating margins at the bottom end of its guidance on Tuesday, saying it had been hurt by rising construction costs against a background of flat house prices. Crest, which is focused on southern England where house prices have long been higher than elsewhere in the United Kingdom, said it would invest in areas of greater housing affordability as part of efforts to shore up performance.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/crest-nicholson-margins-hit-by-higher-costs-flat-house-prices

Transcorp loss widens to S$2.68 million for half-year
Investment holding company Transcorp, formerly known as Transview, saw its loss widen to S$2.68 million for the half-year ended April 30, from S$2.28 million in the same period a year before. Revenue fell 7.2 per cent to S$2.91 million, with Transcorp attributing this to a fall in the number of cars sold, offset by rental income from the leasing of cars.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/transcorp-loss-widens-to-s268-million-for-half-year

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

HSR postponed, not scrapped, Mahathir tells Japanese media
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad seemed to have walked back from an earlier decision when he told a Japanese publication that the high-speed rail (HSR) project had been merely postponed, not cancelled. Speaking to Nikkei Asian Review on the sidelines of the Future of Asia conference in Tokyo, he said Malaysia cannot afford the project at this moment but signalled that the door is still open.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/hsr-postponed-not-scrapped-mahathir-tells-japanese-media
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/hsr-postponed-not-scrapped-says-mahathir