DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 20th December 2018

Singapore Real Estate

Newer strata malls fail to deliver
Mr Tan Meng Khiang invested in a 187 sq ft strata retail unit at mixed development One Dusun Residences a few years ago, thinking it would be a good Balestier neighbourhood mall for the nearby condos. But the returns are not yet what he had hoped for, after its completion in 2016. For now, he is getting a 1.6 per cent rental yield, rather than the four per cent he expected. He estimates that about 50 of 77 shops are occupied.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/consumer/newer-strata-malls-fail-to-deliver

Singapore hotels get a ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ boost
After Singapore’s residential and office markets made comebacks this year, the next property sector to bet on might just be its hotels. The hotel industry is heading into 2019 in good shape after boosts to visitor arrivals from the Trump-Kim summit in June and the success of romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians. Average occupancy rates touched 87 per cent this year, the highest in a decade, property firm Cushman & Wakefield said.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-hotels-get-a-crazy-rich-asians-boost
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/hotels-get-crazy-rich-asians-boost

Look back 2018: Year of ups & downs for property
It was a roller-coaster year for the Singapore property market, with the first half riding up to the top. Collective sales were so buoyant and private home prices rebounded so strongly that analysts predicted a new price peak by the end of the year. But the party ended on July 6, with unexpected cooling measures preventing any bubble from forming and stabilised prices to come in line with income growth and economic fundamentals.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property-year-of-ups-downs

Singapore Economy

Companies cite trade war as main risk to six-month outlook: survey
A very cautious optimism remains among Asian companies in the fourth quarter as they wait to see whether there will be any breakthrough in a trade dispute between the US and China, a Thomson Reuters/INSEAD survey showed. Representing the six-month outlook of 84 firms, the Thomson Reuters/INSEAD Asian Business Sentiment Index edged up to 63 in the October-December quarter, slightly above a near three-year low of 58 seen in the previous period.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/companies-cite-trade-war-as-main-risk-to-six-month-outlook-survey

Companies’ Brief

GIC buys two distribution centres in South Korea for US$570m
GIC on Wednesday said it will buy two distribution centres in the Greater Seoul area for US$570 million through a real estate fund. It said it would acquire Blocks A and B of Hwaseong Dongtan Logistics Complex in Gyeonggi Province in South Korea.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/gic-buys-two-distribution-centres-in-south-korea-for-us570m-0

Keppel Corp secures 10.97-ha residential site in Tianjin Eco-City
Keppel Corporation’s subsidiary Keppel Land China has secured a 10.97-hectare residential site in the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City for a total consideration of 1.07 billion yuan (S$214 million). A total of 392 units of terrace houses and 180 units of low-rise apartments will be developed on the site. The project is expected to be launched in Q4 of 2019, and is targeted at upper-middle income homebuyers.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/keppel-corp-secures-1097-ha-residential-site-in-tianjin-eco-city

Ying Li reveals take-up rates for Beijing project built amid buying curbs
Property firm Ying Li International Real Estate on Wednesday disclosed take-up rates for its investment in the property project New Everbright Centre – an investment it had said “remains healthy” amid purchase restrictions meant to rein in rising home prices in Beijing Tongzhou. The take-up rate of Phase 1 construction, consisting of four Soho towers that have been fully completed, was 69.8 per cent, Ying Li said in response to queries from the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ying-li-reveals-take-up-rates-for-beijing-project-built-amid-buying-curbs

Perennial-led JV wins tender for Yunnan development with 341.5m yuan bid
Perennial Real Estate Holdings, through its 45 per cent owned joint venture (JV) vehicle, Perennial HC Holdings, has won the tender to develop two plots of land next to the Kunming South High Speed Railway (HSR) in Yunnan, China, at a land tender price of 341.5 million yuan (about S$67.6 million). The tender was awarded by the People’s Government of Chenggong District, Kunming, and the investment will be funded via equity capital calls from shareholders of the JV vehicle, Perennial said.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/perennial-led-jv-wins-tender-for-yunnan-development-with-3415m-yuan-bid
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/perennial-led-joint-venture-wins-tender-for-yunnan-development-with-676m

VIEWS, REVIEWS, FORUM & Others

All eyes on CPF loan rule tweaks, new private launches
After this year’s smorgasbord of housing policy surprises, observers are looking out for how developers will pace new private launches next year and adjust their land tender pricing in the wake of the cooling measures and the revised guidelines for minimum average unit size. Apart from possible redevelopment plans, many will be looking at how the Government will make adjustments to Central Provident Fund (CPF) loan rules on the purchase of older Housing Board resale flats.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/all-eyes-on-cpf-loan-rule-tweaks-new-private-launches

Look ahead 2019: 3 things to watch out for housing & property
With an ample supply of homes in the pipeline, and buying decisions still tempered by last year’s cooling measures, higher interest rates and geopolitical tensions, developers are likely to spread out their project launches to maintain sale prices, analysts say. Since July, the median prices of new launches have not changed much, suggesting that developers may have found equilibrium and are comfortable moving 30 to 50 units a month.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/3-things-to-watch-out-for