DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 15th September 2016

Top Story

URA data: Developers must submit net prices for delicensed units sold
In a move seen as boosting the transparency of the property market, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) will from this month require developers of delicensed projects to submit the net prices of units sold. The URA will use this data to compute its widely-watched private home price index from this quarter. This will align the price information for developers’ sales in delicensed projects with the net sale prices that developers of licensed projects have been required to submit weekly to the URA since May 2015.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/ura-data-developers-must-submit-net-prices-for-delicensed-units-sold
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/ura-to-include-sale-transactions-of-delicensed-housing-projects-in-its-private-home
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/de-licensed-projects-net-prices-to-be-used-in-index
http://www.todayonline.com/business/ura-makes-tweak-private-property-prices-index

Vietnam-S’pore venture turns 20, maps growth
A blueprint has been mapped out to expand the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) as it celebrated its 20th anniversary on Wednesday. Memoranda of understanding (MOUs) were signed to explore two new expansions in the provinces of Binh Duong, near Ho Chi Minh City, and Bac Ninh, near Hanoi, which could potentially add 1,500 hectares to its 6,660 hectares already occupied.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/vietnam-spore-venture-turns-20-maps-growth
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/spore-vietnam-set-to-expand-industrial-ties
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/not-easy-to-woo-investors-in-the-past
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-vietnam-plan-to-expand-joint-industrial-park-project/3126466.html

Singapore Economy

Singapore set to be hub for impact investing
Singapore is poised to become the regional hub for impact investing – as the form of investment that seeks social impact alongside financial returns spreads across the world. This was a key conclusion made by speakers on Wednesday at the media roundtable for the 2016 DBS-NUS Social Venture Challenge Asia (SVCA). Karen Ngiu, managing director and head of group strategic marketing and communications at DBS, and moderator of the roundtable, said: “Singapore has all the building blocks in place to be the region’s hub for impact investing, a very exciting space.”
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-set-to-be-hub-for-impact-investing
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/spore-has-potential-to-be-regional-hub-for-social-enterprise

S’pore investors overly optimistic about income returns: survey
Singapore investors, like their Asian counterparts, are an overly optimistic lot. A survey comissioned by asset management firm Schroders found that investors in the city-state, particularly millennials, are more bullish and confident about their investment returns. Their views on investment echoed those from other parts of Asia, with the region turning up more optimistic investors than the rest of the world.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/spore-investors-overly-optimistic-about-income-returns-survey
http://www.todayonline.com/business/spore-investors-have-unrealistic-expectations-returns-schroders

Singapore Real Estate

Rents of private and HDB flats fall 0.6% in August: SRX
Rents of private non-landed homes and Housing & Development Board (HDB) flats in Singapore slipped 0.6 per cent in August compared to July. Both segments saw an uptick in rental volumes last month, SRX Property estimates on Wednesday showed, a reflection of the current leasing landscape where shorter leases are increasingly more sought-after amid uncertain economic conditions. Flash reports on rentals by SRX Property typically capture around 80 per cent of the month’s transactions on average at the time of the reports’ publication.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/rents-of-private-and-hdb-flats-fall-06-in-august-srx
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/rents-of-condos-hdb-flats-in-singapore-down-06-in-august-srx-property
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/rents-for-private-homes-hdb-flats-weaken-in-august-slipping-06-srx-property

Singapore high-rise office rents decline by 7% as demand slows
Singapore landlords are paying the penalty for a slowing economy. Alone among the world’s major cities, the cost of renting an office with panoramic views is falling as supply outstrips demand. Annual rents on the upper floors of Singapore’s skyscrapers fell 7 per cent to about US$775 a square metre in the first six months, according to a 23-city index compiled by Knight Frank LLP. The biggest increase was in Shanghai, where rents climbed 7.6 per cent to US$774. In Hong Kong, the most expensive market, rents rose by 5.9 per cent to US$2,996 a square metre, the broker said.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-high-rise-office-rents-decline-by-7-as-demand-slows
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/singapore-high-rise-office-rents-decline-by-7-in-first-half-of-2016-as-demand
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-14/singapore-high-rise-office-rents-decline-by-7-as-demand-slows

Property agent fined S$10,000 for using client’s money meant for home purchase to settle his own debts
A former Propnex Realty property agent was on Wednesday (Sept 14) slapped with the maximum fine of S$10,000 for handling money meant to pay for a public housing unit on his client’s behalf, a sum he used to settle his debts. The transaction amount of S$93,000 was the largest a property agent has handled among the 17 agents that the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) has prosecuted since 2010.
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/property-agent-fined-s10000-using-clients-money-meant-home-purchase-settle-his-own-debts

Companies’ Brief

Roxy-Pacific adds 7,685 sq ft site to Jalan Eunos residential project for S$11 million
Roxy-Pacific Holdings has agreed to acquire a freehold residential site at Jalan Eunos for S$10.978 million, the developer announced on Wednesday after the market closed. The site, which comprises lots at 180, 182 and 184 Jalan Eunos, has an estimated total land area of 7,685 square feet and an existing gross plot ratio of 1.4 under the 2014 Master Plan. Roxy-Pacific, through wholly owned subsidiary RH Eunos, plans to amalgamate the new site with an existing freehold site at 178 and 180A Jalan Eunos that it had acquired in February 2016.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/roxy-pacific-adds-7685-sq-ft-site-to-jalan-eunos-residential-project-for-s11

Keppel Capital announces board changes at subsidiaries
Keppel Capital Holdings Pte Ltd (Keppel Capital), a wholly owned subsidiary of Keppel Corporation Limited, announced on Wednesday the appointment of Christina Tan, the current CEO of Keppel Capital, as non-independent non-executive director on the boards of Keppel Reit Management Limited (KRML), Keppel Infrastructure Fund Management Pte Ltd (KIFM) and Keppel DC Reit Management Pte Ltd (KDCRM). Ms Tan’s appointment will take effect from Sept 15. A founding member since 2003, she is concurrently the managing director of Alpha Investment Partners, and has over 20 years of expertise and experience in investing and fund management across the US, Europe, and Asia
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/keppel-capital-announces-board-changes-at-subsidiaries

Takashimaya wins rent dispute with landlord Ngee Ann Development
The court fight between Takashimaya and its landlord Ngee Ann Development (NAD) over calculation of rent has concluded in favour of the department store. The High Court, in a written judgment on Wednesday, agreed with Takashimaya’s contention that rental rate for the next five years should be valued based on the existing space configuration.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/takashimaya-wins-rent-dispute-with-landlord-ngee-ann-development
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/takashimaya-wins-rent-dispute-with-landlord-ngee-ann-development?login=true