DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 13th December 2017

Top Story

Condo resale prices continue to rise in November
Resale prices of private condominiums in Singapore continued their climb, posting a 0.5 per cent increase in November from a month ago. This was boosted by transaction prices in every region – the city centre, city fringe, and suburbs – and came after a 1.3 per cent price increase in October, too. According to SRX Property flash estimates on Tuesday, all three regions recorded year-on-year price increases, with the Core Central Region (CCR), Rest of Central Region (RCR) and Outside Central Region (OCR) registering gains of 7.1, 7.3 and 5 per cent, respectively.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/condo-resale-prices-continue-to-rise-in-november
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/condo-resale-prices-up-05-as-upturn-gains-ground
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/singapore-resale-condo-prices-up-05-in-november-srx-property
https://www.srx.com.sg/research/44082/private-resale-non-landed-prices-increase-05-in-november-volume-increases-by-09

Singapore Economy

Fed rate hike expected; Singapore growth to stay intact
All eyes will be on the United States Federal Reserve’s last meeting of 2017, where it is widely expected that the central bank will raise interest rates for the third time this year, a case further solidified by a strong jobs report last week. But with the Fed decision almost a given, an interest rate hike is already largely priced in by Singapore markets, analysts told The Business Times.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/fed-rate-hike-expected-singapore-growth-to-stay-intact

Retail sales fell 0.1% in Oct, marking second consecutive decline
Retail sales continued its lacklustre showing with its second consecutive decline in October, dragged down by double-digit declines in the computer & telecommunications equipment segment. Total takings in the sector shrank 0.1 per cent in October compared to a year ago, according to the latest data by the Singapore Department of Statistics on Tuesday.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/infographics/retail-sales-fell-01-in-oct-marking-second-consecutive-decline
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-retail-sales-continue-decline-with-01-slowdown-in-october
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/retail-sales-down-01-in-oct-marking-second-straight-decline

SE-Asia’s Internet economy to hit US$50b in 2017
Ridehailing and e-commerce have in the last two years galvanised South-east Asia’s Internet economy, which will reach US$50 billion in 2017 and potentially exceed US$200 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Google and Temasek. The Google-Temasek e-Conomy SEA Spotlight 2017, released on Tuesday, found that all four sectors of the Internet economy experienced “solid growth” in 2017, with e-commerce and ridehailing booming the fastest at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 40 per cent from 2015.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/technology/se-asias-internet-economy-to-hit-us50b-in-2017
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/ride-hailing-e-commerce-lift-regions-internet-economy

Singapore no longer among world’s 20 priciest cities for expats
Singapore has fallen out of the 20 priciest cities in the world for expatriates, ranking 21st out of 262 cities surveyed, the lowest it has been since 2014. The country has dropped five places in the global rankings since 2016, while cities such as Tel Aviv and Copenhagen have climbed. In the latest rankings published by expatriate manager ECA International, the Republic has kept its ninth spot from last year in the rankings of the most expensive cities in the Asia-Pacific region.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-no-longer-among-worlds-20-priciest-cities-for-expats
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-drops-5-spots-to-rank-21st-in-priciest-cities-for-expats-eca

Dealmaking in key Asean economies at all-time high
Dealmaking in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia saw a high from December last year to November this year compared to two years ago, with Singapore accounting for the bulk of deal volumes. An annual round-up of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private equity and venture capital (PE/VC) and initial public offering (IPO) deals by global valuation and corporate finance adviser Duff & Phelps found that the overall transaction value in the three countries saw a high of over US$130 billion, exceeding the last high of US$115 billion in 2015.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/dealmaking-in-key-asean-economies-at-all-time-high

Singapore Real Estate

Completion period for EC sites extended to 5 years
The government is extending the project completion period (PCP) for executive condominium (EC) sites from four years to five years. The longer PCP starts with the EC site in Sumang Walk in the Punggol area, which was launched on Tuesday by the Housing & Development Board (HDB) under the confirmed list of the second-half 2017 Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/completion-period-for-ec-sites-extended-to-5-years
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/hdb-launches-tender-for-exec-condo-at-sumang-walk
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/fierce-bidding-expected-for-ec-site-in-punggol
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/hdb-launches-tender-for-exec-condo-at-sumang-walk

Another Cairnhill site joins en bloc fray
Another Cairnhill development is launching for en bloc tender in the prime district 9, barely two months after Cairnhill Mansions and an adjacent freehold site launched for collective sale in October for a combined price tag of S$477 million.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/another-cairnhill-site-joins-en-bloc-fray
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/cairnhill-heights-to-launch-collective-sale-bid
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/cairnhill-heights-in-district-9-seeking-more-than-s80m-in-collective-sale-tender

More cases of falling windows this year
Instances of windows falling have hit a five-year high, with 50 this year, up from 46 last year. Half were sliding windows and most of the remainder were casement windows. Most of the sliding windows detached as they did not have proper safety features to keep them in their tracks, while most of the casement windows that fell were fitted with aluminium rivets that had corroded.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/more-cases-of-falling-windows-this-year
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/50-cases-of-falling-windows-in-2017-a-five-year-high

Companies’ Brief

Is CDL’s sweetened offer more palatable to M&C shareholders?
After minority shareholders of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C) objected to the price offered by parent company City Developments (CDL) to take the London-listed hotelier private, CDL bumped up its bid last Friday. But the fund managers who had criticised CDL’s original offer are yet to give any indication of how they plan to vote.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/is-cdls-sweetened-offer-more-palatable-to-mc-shareholders