DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 20th September 2018

Top Story

Cooling measures make it harder to clear new housing stock: Redas
The nearly 46,000 private residential units that could become available for sale in 2019 and 2020 would take about five years to be absorbed by the market – and this is barring unforseen circumstances. Augustine Tan, president of the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (Redas) said this on Wednesday at the association’s annual mid-autumn festival lunch.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/cooling-measures-make-it-harder-to-clear-new-housing-stock-redas
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-property-market-facing-many-challenges-redas-president
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/property-market-faces-challenges-redas-chief
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/singapore-property-market-facing-many-challenges-redas-president
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/pipeline-private-properties-will-require-5-years-be-absorbed-redas

Singapore Economy

Asian markets rally despite US-China spat
Locals shares headed north yesterday in line with markets across the region as investors took the tit-for-tat tariffs between the United States and China in their stride. Nearly all regional bourses rose despite the US$60 billion (S$82 billion) in tariffs levelled by China on US goods, underscoring market weariness over the constant back and forth.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/asian-markets-rally-despite-us-china-spat

Singapore Real Estate

Two sites up for collective sale
Two sites easily accessible by public transport are the latest to go up for collective sale. One is the 999-year leasehold Waterloo Apartments in Waterloo Street, a site with outline planning permission for hotel use, said marketing agent Cushman & Wakefield yesterday. The other is freehold Yuen Sing Mansion in Lorong 13, Geylang.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/two-sites-up-for-collective-sale
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/waterloo-apartments-up-for-sale-at-s115m
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/waterloo-apartments-in-civic-district-up-for-collective-sale-at-s115m-with-provisional
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/waterloo-apartments-in-civic-district-up-for-collective-sale-at-115m-with
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/yuen-sing-mansion-up-for-en-bloc-sale
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/freehold-yuen-sing-mansion-in-geylang-up-for-collective-sale

The lost decade of Sentosa Cove, Singapore’s billionaire haven
Sentosa Cove, a residential enclave nestled on an island off the coast of Singapore, is quiet at the best of times. Of a weekday, its frangipani-lined streets are mostly devoid of life, save the odd domestic helper taking her four-legged charge out for a walk.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/the-lost-decade-of-sentosa-cove-singapores-billionaire-haven
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/the-lost-decade-of-sentosa-cove-singapores-billionaire-haven
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/lost-decade-sentosa-cove-singapores-billionaire-haven

Companies’ Brief

Ascott Reit buys prime greenfield site for S$62.4m to build first co-living property in one-north
Ascott Residence Trust (Ascott Reit) has acquired a prime greenfield site at Nepal Hill in Singapore’s research and innovation business hub one-north for S$62.4 million, the company announced on Thursday morning. It plans to develop the 60-year leasehold site into a co-living property managed by the Reit’s (real estate investment trust) sponsor, The Ascott Limited, under its co-living brand lyf.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ascott-reit-buys-prime-greenfield-site-for-s624m-to-build-first-co-living-property
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/ascott-reit-wins-tender-for-one-north-site-for-624m-to-build-lyf-co

DBS ramps up project finance deals on Asia infrastructure
DBS Bank is beefing up its project finance team to get a share of Asia’s huge infrastructure development needs. From Beijing to Sydney, DBS project finance (PF) bankers can be found as Southeast Asia’s largest bank hopes to play a key role in helping develop the region’s infrastructure.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/banking-finance/dbs-ramps-up-project-finance-deals-on-asia-infrastructure

Far East Group unit to sell HK property
Far East Group’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Far East Refrigeration, has entered into a sale and purchase agreement to sell a property in Kowloon, Hong Kong to China Glory Creation for HK$5.36 million (S$937,082). The property consists of an office and a store room with an estimated gross floor area of 876 square feet.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/far-east-group-unit-to-sell-hk-property

Nicholas Chua moves up to deputy CEO at Ho Bee
Ho Bee Land has promoted group director of business development Nicholas Chua to the role of deputy chief executive and appointed executive director Ong Chong Hua to the additional role of chief operating officer. Nicholas Chua, 43, joined the group in 2002. He is also the son of the property developer’s current chairman and chief executive Chua Thian Poh.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/nicholas-chua-moves-up-to-deputy-ceo-at-ho-bee
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ho-bee-names-new-deputy-ceo-coo-with-succession-in-mind
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/ho-bee-names-new-deputy-ceo-coo

Keppel Land unit takes 40% stake in Nanjing residential project for 1.4b yuan
Keppel Corp’s China real estate unit is buying a 40 per cent stake in the development of a prime residential site in Nanjing, China, for about 1.41 billion Chinese yuan (S$283 million). Keppel Land China is buying the stake from a subsidiary of Shanghai-listed Gemdale (Group) Co, which will retain the remaining 60 per cent of the joint venture.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/keppel-land-unit-takes-40-stake-in-nanjing-residential-project-for-14b-yuan
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/keppel-land-unit-takes-40-stake-in-nanjing-residential-project-for-283m

Lum Chang offers S$26.5m of notes for early exchange; offer lapses on Sept 21
Construction and property developer Lum Chang announced on Thursday that S$26.5 million of its outstanding S$50 million 5.5 per cent notes due 2019 had been offered for exchange for a “like principal amount” of Singapore dollar-denominated notes due 2021 that carry a higher coupon of 5.8 per cent as at Sept 19, 5pm.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/lum-chang-offers-s265m-of-notes-for-early-exchange-offer-lapses-on-sept-21
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/lum-chang-says-offer-265m-of-notes-for-early-exchange-ongoing-till-noon

Mapletree Logistics Trust prices S$375m placement at S$1.21 apiece near cheap end of talk
Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT) has completed its private placement that was launched on Wednesday and will issue about 309.9 million new units at an issue price of S$1.21 per new unit to raise S$375 million, the trust said in a Singapore Exchange (SGX) filing on Thursday. The deal arrived near the low end of price talk between S$1.196 and S$1.234 per new unit.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/mapletree-logistics-trust-prices-s375m-placement-at-s121-apiece-near-cheap-end-of
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/mapletree-logistics-trust-issues-3099m-units-at-121-apiece-plans-advanced

Pontiac Land, Mayo Clinic in tie-up on US campus expansion
Singapore property group Pontiac Land and the famed Mayo Clinic in the US are teaming up to expand the clinic’s Rochester campus in Minnesota to meet the growing demand for more clinical space. The 11-floor expansion of the Gonda Building includes four floors for new clinical space, which will deliver an additional 200,000 sq ft of clinical space, and seven floors for a premium hotel.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/pontiac-land-mayo-clinic-in-tie-up-on-us-campus-expansion

Sembcorp Marine investing in LNG tugs
Yard group Sembcorp Marine is investing in a fleet of liquefied natural gas (LNG) hybrid powered tugs, which would allow its operations to comply with emission targets being rolled out by the International Maritime Organisation, the industry’s regulatory body. The yard group plans to design and build up to 12 such tugs to replace the existing diesel-powered ones in the years through to 2025.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/sembcorp-marine-investing-in-lng-tugs

Superboom Projects maps ‘condotel’ plan in Bintan
Developer picks Bintan for its project because it is a mere hour away from Singapore by ferry, and because Bintan is already a known leisure and sporting destination. IMAGINE living in a hotel suite surrounded by nature while on a quick break from work, or retiring in a home by a pristine waterfront just an hour away from Singapore by ferry.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/superboom-projects-maps-condotel-plan-in-bintan

Looking for cheap real estate in Dubai? Check the stock market
Dubai is famous for its high skyscrapers and lavish lifestyle, and owning real estate in the sunny Gulf city may sound like a non-affordable dream for many people. By contrast, stocks of its biggest property owners and developers are becoming increasingly within reach. Shares of Emaar Properties PJSC, the developer of the world’s tallest building and an icon of Dubai, can be bought at the lowest valuation since 2010.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/looking-for-cheap-real-estate-in-dubai-check-the-stock-market

VIEWS, REVIEWS, FORUM & Others

The economy and its impact on US voters
When political strategist James Carville coined the phrase “It’s the economy, stupid!” as the theme of Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential campaign against sitting president George H W Bush, he echoed the view of the majority of American political scientists, that the condition of the economy determines the outcomes of presidential and congressional campaigns.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/the-economy-and-its-impact-on-us-voters

Gearing up for the next big economic debacle, a decade on from 2008 crisis
A decade after the global financial crisis of 2008, pundits are tripping over themselves trying to predict when the next big economic catastrophe will hit. Citing everything from the flattening yield curve to rising economic nationalism, the emerging consensus seems to be that 2020 could be the danger year. Indeed, downturns are cyclical.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/gearing-up-for-the-next-big-economic-debacle-a-decade-on-from-2008-crisis

A futile and destructive trade war
On Monday, another round of US tariffs on US$200 billion (S$274 billion) worth of Chinese imports will go into effect, on top of the US$50 billion already in place. China will retaliate with tariffs on US$60 billion worth of US goods. US President Donald Trump has threatened that retaliation will trigger more tariffs on an additional US$267 billion of imports from China.
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/st-editorial/a-futile-and-destructive-trade-war