DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 12th, 13th and 14th May 2018

Top Story

November launch for first batch of HDB flats in new Tengah estate
The first batch of 1,500 Housing Board flats in the new Tengah estate will be launched in November, Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong announced on Sunday. He shared the details in a post on his blog, Housing Matters, where he said that the flats will comprise “a good mix across different flat-types”.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/november-launch-for-first-batch-of-hdb-flats-in-new-tengah-estate
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/first-batch-of-1500-hdb-flats-in-new-tengah-estate-will-be-launched-in-november
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/forest-town-tengah-s-first-batch-of-hdb-flats-to-be-launched-in-10229232
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/first-tengah-flats-be-launched-november-lawrence-wong

Singapore Economy

All foreign projects, including KL-S’pore HSR, to be reviewed
The new Malaysian government will review all foreign contracts and projects, including the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project and those under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/all-foreign-projects-including-kl-spore-hsr-to-be-reviewed
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/malaysia-singapore-ties-hold-promise-under-new-mahathir-led-government-despite-past-run

See tech disruption as enabling, rather than taking away jobs: Heng
Rather than seeing technological disruption as a threat to jobs, we should think about how technology enables us to do more than would otherwise be possible, said Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat at the opening of PwC Singapore’s new office at Marina One East Tower yesterday.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/see-tech-disruption-as-enabling-rather-than-taking-away-jobs-heng
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/tech-disruption-an-enabler-not-job-threat-heng

Singapore retail sales drop 1.5% in March, driven down by slump in car sales
Retail sales dropped 1.5 per cent in March from a year ago, reversing the Chinese New Year-fueled 8.6 per cent jump seen in February, as car sales continued to slump. Excluding motor vehicles, takings at the till rose 2.6 per cent, according to Singapore Department of Statistics data released on Friday.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-retail-sales-drop-15-in-march-driven-down-by-slump-in-car-sales
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-retail-sales-drop-15-in-march-as-car-sales-slump-again
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/retail-sales-down-15-in-march-reversing-feb-jump

Singapore Real Estate

Prime districts enter the collective sales fray in 2018
After making its way through the suburbs and city fringe last year, the collective sale fever is sweeping homes in Singapore’s prime districts this year, helping to push this year’s sale value for residential sites above levels seen last year.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/prime-districts-enter-the-collective-sales-fray-in-2018

Construction stocks ‘look set for change in fortunes’
Construction companies on the Singapore Exchange may have seen muted performance as real estate counters have by comparison heated up amid the recovery of the private residential market. But better fortunes for construction firms on the bourse may be on the way, analysts said.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/construction-stocks-look-set-for-change-in-fortunes

Peak Court sold en bloc for S$118.88 million
Peak Court, a freehold residential site at Thomson Road, has been sold by way of a collective sale for S$118.88 million to Rich Capital Holdings and Tuan Sing Holdings. Rich Capital will hold a 30 per cent stake while Tuan Sing will hold the remaining 70 per cent. The acquisition will be conducted through a joint-venture company, TSRC Novena.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/peak-court-sold-en-bloc-for-s11888-million

Singapore property investment sales could hit record in 2018
Singapore’s property investment sales market rebounded in 2016, surged to a 10-year high in 2017 and could end 2018 on a record high, according to recent JLL data.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-property-investment-sales-could-hit-record-in-2018

Modern ‘kampung’ in Woodlands opens
Singapore’s first retirement kampung in Woodlands – bringing together public housing for seniors with healthcare, wellness and eldercare facilities – was officially opened yesterday. The 11-storey Kampung Admiralty is the first Housing Board project to co-locate childcare and senior centres in one integrated development, aimed at encouraging inter-generational bonding.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/modern-kampung-in-woodlands-opens
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/elderly-friendly-vertical-kampung-with-housing-healthcare-10227962

4 projects win BCA’s Platinum award for user-friendly design
It is a business park so seamlessly connected to nearby parks that otters have entered its lush, green compound for illicit suppers at a fish pond. Animals find themselves right at home at the Mapletree Business City II in Pasir Panjang, which boasts more than 1,400 trees.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/4-projects-win-bcas-platinum-award-for-user-friendly-design
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/pillar-free-changi-t4-departure-hall-diversion-of-singapore-river-bag-engineers

Companies’ Brief

GIC partners Shanghai’s Nova to set up 4.3b yuan rental apartment platform in China
GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, is partnering Nova, a Shanghai-based property investment and asset management platform, to set up a 4.3 billion yuan (S$904.9 million) rental apartment platform in China. Both partners said in a joint statement on Monday that the platform will invest in “quality rental apartment projects” in core locations across China’s Tier 1 cities.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/gic-partners-shanghais-nova-to-set-up-43b-yuan-rental-apartment-platform-in-china
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/gic-in-43b-yuan-tie-up-with-shanghais-nova-to-invest-in-rental-apartment

Ascendas India Trust to invest up to 14.3b rupees to build, acquire 2 Navi Mumbai buildings
Ascendas India Trust plans to provide construction funding and to buy two buildings in the township of Navi Mumbai, India, for a total debt-and-equity investment of up to about 14.3 billion Indian rupees (S$286.2 million), the trust manager announced on Monday.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ascendas-india-trust-to-invest-up-to-143b-rupees-to-build-acquire-2-navi-mumbai
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/ascendas-india-trust-to-invest-up-to-143b-rupees-to-build-acquire-2-navi

Venture buys back shares; Oxley and YPIL increase UEL stake
The Straits Times Index (STI) has continued to be the strongest of the regional majors that include the Nikkei 225, Hang Seng and S&P/ASX 200. In the 2018 year through to May 10, the STI generated a 5.4 per cent total return, compared to these three regional indices averaging a 0.5 per cent return, while the Dow Jones has gained one per cent, in SGD terms.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/venture-buys-back-shares-oxley-and-ypil-increase-uel-stake

CDL posts 16.3% drop in Q1 net profit
New Futura is a 124-unit freehold luxury condo in Leonie Hill Road in prime District 9. The average price for the North Tower will be higher than about S$3,350 per square foot (psf) achieved for the 62 units sold in the 64-unit South Tower, released in January 2018.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/cdl-posts-163-drop-in-q1-net-profit
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/cdl-q1-net-profit-slips-163-to-s80m
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/cdl-posts-163-drop-in-q1-net-profit-to-80m

Ying Li International Real Estate Q1 net profit slips 56% to 4.7 million yuan
Ying Li International Real Estate has posted a 56.3 per cent drop in first quarter group net profit to 4.7 million yuan from a profit of 10.7 million yuan in the year-ago period. This came despite a 53.1 per cent increase in revenue to 309.5 million yuan.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ying-li-international-real-estate-q1-net-profit-slips-56-to-47-million-yuan

UOL Q1 profit down 8%; group launching Amber45 this weekend at S$2,200 psf
UOL Group, which is launching its freehold residential project Amber45 this weekend at an average price of above S$2,200 per square foot (psf), said its net profit for the first quarter ended March 31 fell 8 per cent to S$73.82 million.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/uol-q1-profit-down-8-group-launching-amber45-this-weekend-at-s2200-psf
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/uol-groups-q1-profit-dips-8
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/uols-q1-net-profit-dips-8-while-revenue-surges-89

OUE Q1 net profit falls 91% to S$1m on fair value loss from investment in mutual fund
Non-cash marked-to-market fair value loss on an investment in a mutual fund dampened results for OUE Limited in its first quarter. As such, net profit for the mainboard-listed integrated property developer plummeted 90.7 per cent from S$11.1 million in the year-ago period to S$1 million, the group said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Friday evening.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/oue-q1-net-profit-falls-91-to-s1m-on-fair-value-loss-from-investment-in-mutual

Wee Hur posts Q1 profit of S$11.1m, up 3.5 times
Property firm Wee Hur Holdings on Friday evening posted a net profit of S$11.1 million for the three months ended March 31, a 3.5-fold increase on the S$3.2 million earned a year ago. On a per-share basis, earnings for Q1 translated to 1.2 Singapore cents from 0.34 Singapore cent in the preceding year.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/wee-hur-posts-q1-profit-of-s111m-up-35-times

Hot stock: Genting Singapore up 7.8% on positive results, earnings prospects
Genting Singapore jumped nine Singapore cents or 7.8 per cent to S$1.25 after a series of brokerages reiterated “buy” on the stock, following the release of its surprisingly positive earnings, and also expectations that the company will soon be able to bid for a Japan gaming licence when the country’s regulations fall in place.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/hot-stock-genting-singapore-up-78-on-positive-results-earnings-prospects

VIEWS, REVIEWS, FORUM & Others

Govt should rein in soaring private property prices
In land-scarce Singapore, government action is required to ensure that residential properties, both public and private, should first and foremost be homes for Singaporean owner-occupiers (Apartments should be homes, not investments, by Mr Toh Cheng Seong; May 13).
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/govt-should-rein-in-soaring-private-property-prices

Condos are not alternatives to hotels or short-term residences
The purchase of a residence is a major investment, both financially and emotionally, for people everywhere in the world and especially in Singapore, where property prices are high. People are buying a place that they will call home for many years and will take many factors into account before signing on the dotted line.
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/condos-are-not-alternatives-to-hotels-or-short-term-residences

Apartments should be homes, not investments
The trend of shoebox units forming a large chunk of the apartments in condominiums first took off in some mixed developments in the Central Business District about 15 years ago, before spreading across our island.
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/apartments-should-be-homes-not-investments

Collective sale process should be fairer, more transparent
The article, Going en bloc: The long road (May 6), failed to fully highlight the plight of stayers living with the constant fear of losing the roofs over their heads. They feel helpless against a phalanx of property agents, lawyers and developers with financial muscle, not to mention being treated as pariahs in their communities.
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/collective-sale-process-should-be-fairer-more-transparent

Bike parking space ruling unlikely to ‘squeeze out’ cars’
A new ruling that requires all new developments to provide adequate spaces for bicycles is unlikely to affect the number of carpark spaces in private developments, experts say. The ruling, which took effect on Tuesday, had sparked concerns among residents and those in retail outlets that cars would be partly squeezed out.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/bike-parking-space-ruling-unlikely-to-squeeze-out-cars

Tweak rules on using CPF savings to buy HDB flats
Given the recent tumult in the housing market, Housing Board home owners are understandably concerned over the long-term prospects of their leases (What if I outlive the lease of my flat?; April 15). In general, one would expect the value of 99-year leasehold properties to appreciate up to the 55-year mark, before tapering down.
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/tweak-rules-on-using-cpf-savings-to-buy-hdb-flats

Old HDB flats: Assets losing their value?
Singapore: When Mrs Y L Dong and her family moved into their resale five-room Housing Development Board (HDB) flat 20 years ago, she was certain they had found their ideal home. The Ang Mo Kio apartment may have been 17 years old, but its age did not bother her.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/old-hdb-flats-assets-losing-their-value-10224402

Commentary: A bold vision of happy housing options for Singapore’s seniors
Singapore has a vision of becoming a world-class city and an endearing home. These high standards that we demand from our quality of life must be applied to our housing options in our old age, says one observer from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/old-age-housing-options-seniors-president-address-10223530

Keeping tabs on the rising cost of loans
With interest rates having risen substantially and likely to continue going up, many homeowners are paying more for their mortgages. It is thus a good time to look for lower rates before costs rise even further.
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/keeping-tabs-rising-cost-loans

Bukit Merah’s SIT blocks part of new heritage trail
Mention Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) estates and most people may think of those in Tiong Bahru and Dakota Crescent, but there is one in Redhill too and it may not be around for that much longer. Redhill Close was the first public housing in Bukit Merah, completed in 1955 by the SIT.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/bt-merahs-sit-blocks-part-of-new-heritage-trail