DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 20th February 2019

Top Stories

Redas explains why some cooling measures need to be revised
The Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (Redas) has given reasons why some of the property cooling measures should be revised, and at the same time called for more dialogue between the Government and property stakeholders. Speaking at the association’s spring festival lunch at Shangri-La Hotel, Redas’s new president Chia Ngiang Hong said there could be some flexibility in the timeframe needed to complete the sales of projects when it comes to the remissible additional buyers’ stamp duty (ABSD) for developers.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/redas-explains-why-some-cooling-measures-need-to-be-revised
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/redas-calls-for-review-of-higher-stamp-duties-on-developers

Property sector needs to focus on long term: Heng Swee Keat
Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat has seen financial meltdowns in his time, so his warning that “when you have a period of euphoria, you end up with a very hard landing that you can call a crisis” carried some weight yesterday. Mr Heng said at the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (Redas) spring festival lunch that the 2008 global financial crisis illustrated just “how interlinked economies and financial systems are, and that we will have to be very watchful of this global development and these interlinkages”.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property-sector-needs-to-focus-on-long-term-heng

Singapore Real Estate

Pair of Club Street shophouses up for sale at S$25m
A pair of adjoining three-storey conservation commercial shophouses at 44 and 46 Club Street have been put on sale, said Cushman & Wakefield on Tuesday. The properties will be sold with existing tenancy at a price of S$25 million for both shophouses, the real estate company told The Business Times.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/pair-of-club-street-shophouses-up-for-sale-at-s25m
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/club-street-conservation-shophouses-up-for-sale

Companies’ Brief

Boustead Projects’ unit wins S$70m deal to build high-tech plant
Real estate solutions company Boustead Projects on Tuesday said that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Boustead Projects E&C, has won a contract worth over S$70 million to design and build an integrated advanced high-tech manufacturing facility in Singapore.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/boustead-projects-unit-wins-s70m-deal-to-build-high-tech-plant

8M Real Estate buying shophouses worth S$144m
8M Real Estate is buying about S$144 million in shophouses in four transactions involving 10 shophouses in Tanjong Pagar Road, Amoy Street, Gemmill Lane and Lorong Mambong. The biggest of the four deals, at S$80 million, is for a row of six shophouses – Nos 33, 35, 37, 39, 41 and 43 Tanjong Pagar Road – which have four floors and a mezzanine level.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/8m-real-estate-buying-shophouses-worth-s144m

Construction and engineering group BBR flags loss for 2018
BBR Holdings expects to report a net loss for 2018, the company said on Tuesday (Feb 19) after the market closed. The construction and engineering group did not give a reason for the loss, but said that details will be provided when the company announced its 2018 results.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/construction-and-engineering-group-bbr-flags-loss-for-2018

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Build community spaces for residents of private estates
I urge the Government to provide community spaces for residents living in private estates (HDB launches first of its new neighbourhood centres, Feb 18). I live in a private housing enclave in Pasir Ris and my neighbourhood lacks a community focal point for residents from different condominiums to interact with one another.
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/build-community-spaces-for-residents-of-private-estates

Let rental fees paid by couples go towards BTO deposit
I was perturbed to learn from couples in their late 20s to 30s that they are postponing marriage until their Build-To-Order (BTO) flats are available, in three to four years.
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/let-rental-fees-paid-by-couples-go-towards-bto-deposit