DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 21 January 2016

Singapore Real Estate

Residential site that could yield 570 homes up for sale
A residential site at New Upper Changi Road and Bedok South Avenue 3 was launched on Wednesday (Jan 20), after the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) received a bid by a developer earlier this month. The URA said in a press release that the developer applied for the site to be put on public tender, and committed to a bid price of not less than S$320 million. The site was placed on the Reserve List of the Second Half 2015 Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme, and could potentially yield 570 housing units, it said.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/residential-site-that/2440726.htm

Foreigner buying of Singapore homes hits 7-year low as Chinese sales plunge
Foreigners, including the Chinese, have cut their purchases of Singapore private homes to the lowest since the global financial crisis, leaving the market to depend on local buyers at a time when domestic interest rates are on the rise. Foreigners, including permanent residents, bought 499 homes in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to data compiled by consultancy DTZ. That accounted for about 16 per cent of total transactions versus more than 30 per cent in the third quarter of 2011 just before an additional stamp duty was imposed to cool the market.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/foreigner-buying-of/2443634.html http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/foreigner-buying-singapore-homes-hits-7-year-low-chinese-salesplunge

Prime office rents expected to fall further this year
Prime office rents in Singapore fell 15 per cent in 2015 and industry players expect rents to fall further this year. An estimated 3.4 million square feet of new office space is scheduled to be completed this year and according to property consultants JLL, rents could fall another 10 to 20 per cent. The new supply is the highest in at least 10 years.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/singapore/prime-office-rents/2442068.html

Private housing site near Tanah Merah MRT up for tender
A residential site at the junction of New Upper Changi Road and Bedok South Ave 3 has been put up for sale by public tender by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), with analysts saying the public tender will likely draw developers due to its attractive location.
http://www.todayonline.com/business/private-housing-site-near-tanah-merah-mrt-tender

Companies’ Brief

Dividend stripping helps S-Reits outperform market: UOB-KH
Buy real estate investment trusts (Reits) before the dividends – normally referred to as distributions – are paid and hold them for a while after the payout, brokerage UOB Kay Hian recommended on Wednesday. “Contrary to the efficient market hypothesis, empirical evidence shows that the dividend-stripping strategy has enabled Singapore Reits to outperform the market 62 per cent of the observed times, yielding excess returns of 1.4 per cent,” analysts Vikrant Pandey and Derek Chang said.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/dividend-stripping-helps-s-reits-outperformmarket-uob-kh

Industrial Reits to eye overseas acquisitions in 2016: Moody’s
Singapore industrial real estate investment trusts (Reits) will continue to look overseas for acquisitions in 2016 as they pursue asset growth and yield accretion, away from challenging domestic business conditions, Moody’s said in a Wednesday report.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/industrial-reits-to-eye-overseas-acquisitions-in-2016-moodys

FCOT’s Q1 DPU up 2%
Higher rentals from Alexandra Technopark and the first full quarterly contribution from an Australian property lifted Frasers Commercial Trust’s (FCOT) showing for the first quarter ended December 2015. The trust posted a higher distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.51 Singapore cents for the first quarter from 2.46 Singapore cents a year ago.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/fcots-q1-dpu-up-2
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/slight-boost-for-frasers-q1-distributableincome?login=true

CCT posts 0.9% rise in quarterly DPU
Higher net property income from its wholly owned properties and higher distributable income from Raffles City Singapore boosted fourth-quarter income at CapitaLand Commercial Trust (CCT), the trust manager said yesterday.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/cct-posts-09-rise-in-quarterly-dpu http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/singapore/capitaland-commercial/2440450.html