The Leading Professional and Representative Body for the Real Estate Industry

The Leading Professional and Representative Body for the Real Estate Industry

DAILY NEWS

 

Daily News – 2 Oct 2020 (Fri)

Singapore Real Estate

Private home purchases at odds with headline economic toll
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about grim news of job retrenchments, wage cuts and a recession – and yet, the property market seems abuzz with activity, with demand for private residential homes on the rise.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/private-home-purchases-at-odds-with-headline-economic-toll-0

Private home prices may end 2020 in positive territory despite economic malaise: analysts
Private residential property prices for 2020 as a whole may end in positive territory, some analysts say, after prices rose 0.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) in Q3, nudging the overall price index up 0.1 per cent year-to-date.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/private-home-prices-may-end-2020-in-positive-territory-despite-economic-malaise-analysts
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/private-home-prices-rise-faster-in-q3-despite-covid-19-recession

Pinnacle@Duxton five-room flat sets resale record at S$1.26m
A new resale record was set for The Pinnacle@Duxton HDB at S$1.26 million for a five-room flat sold in September. The flat has a floor area of 107 square metres (sq m) and is on the 43-45th storey. It has a remaining lease of 89 years and four months, according to data from the Housing Development Board’s (HDB) website.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/pinnacleduxton-five-room-flat-sets-resale-record-at-s126m-0

Sold for $3.4m in 8min, online
It took only eight minutes for a 21/2-storey semi-detached house in Toh Tuck Road to be sold for $3.4 million in a virtual auction. The freehold property at 69 Toh Tuck Road, which has a land area of 3,340 sq ft, was “fiercely contested” at real estate agency ERA Singapore’s first virtual auction event on Monday, said the agency in a statement.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/sold-for-34m-in-8min-online
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/semi-detached-house-in-toh-tuck-road-sold-for-34-million-in-8-minutes-in-virtual

HDB resale prices up 1.4% in Q3 despite economic gloom
Resale prices for Housing Board flats increased in the third quarter of this year, with the resale price index reaching 133.7, said the Housing and Development Board (HDB) on Oct 1. This is an increase of 1.4 per cent from the previous quarter.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/hdb-resale-prices-up-14-in-q3-despite-economic-gloom
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/prices-of-hdb-resale-flats-up-14-in-third-quarter

HDB mortgage late payment charges suspended till March 2021
[Singapore] Suspension of late payment charges on Housing Board (HDB) mortgage arrears will be further extended to March next year, as Singaporeans continue to grapple with the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/hdb-mortgage-late-payment-charges-suspended-till-march-2021
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/hdb-extends-suspension-of-late-payment-fee-offers-rent-relief

 

Singapore Economy

August visitor arrivals pick up, but floodgates still shut
Recent border control easing had a muted impact on visitor arrivals, going by the latest monthly figures from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB). That is as analysts expect any year-end staycation boost for the beleaguered hotel sector to be mild too.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/august-visitor-arrivals-pick-up-but-floodgates-still-shut

S’pore still 2nd most digitally competitive in global ranking
Singapore kept its position as the second most digitally competitive in the world, after the United States, in the latest edition of the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking.
https://www.straitstimes.com/tech/spore-still-2nd-most-digitally-competitive-in-global-ranking

9,000 professional services opportunities offered since April
More than 1,500 companies have offered about 9,000 opportunities in the professional services sector, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said on Thursday. Among them, 5,870 of these opportunities are jobs, of which 81 per cent are for professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/9000-professional-services-opportunities-offered-since-april
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/manpower/pay-support-to-speed-up-job-offers-in-key-sector-minister

Need to stay open to talent for Singaporeans to get opportunities
Top professional services firms like PwC, KPMG and Boston Consulting can operate from anywhere in the world, and it is important for Singapore to remain attractive to such businesses so that its people have opportunities to develop their potential, Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing said yesterday.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/need-to-stay-open-to-talent-for-sporeans-to-get-opportunities
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/pwc-to-honour-job-offers-to-200-grads-amid-cost-cuts

 

Companies’ Brief

Lendlease Global Commercial Reit acquires stake in Jem
Lendlease Global Commercial Reit has acquired a stake in Jem shopping mall, through a 5 per cent stake in Lendlease Asian Retail Investment Fund 3 at a purchase consideration of around S$45 million, said the real estate investment trust’s (Reit) manager in a bourse filing on Thursday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/lendlease-global-commercial-reit-acquires-stake-in-jem

OUE chief financial officer to step down on Nov 4
OUE Limited’s chief financial officer Ivan Lim will be stepping down from his role, with effect from Nov 4, to pursue other professional interests, the property developer said on Thursday night. Vice-president of finance Cindy Teo has been promoted to senior vice-president of finance. She will take over Mr Lim’s responsibilities, OUE said in a bourse filing.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/oue-chief-financial-officer-to-step-down-on-nov-4

Corporate digest
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/corporate-digest-1232

 

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Parallels between Covid-19 and climate change
From early on in the Covid-19 pandemic, a common refrain has been: “At least maybe now we will get serious about addressing climate change”.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/parallels-between-covid-19-and-climate-change

Covid-19 calls for re-design of HR and workplace practices for employee safety
Corporations and government organisations have responded to the global pandemic and fresh lockdowns with a mash-up of temperature checks, sanitisers at the lobby, social distancing, contact tracing, split shifts between the office and working from home. And a lot of Zoom calls.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/covid-19-calls-for-re-design-of-hr-and-workplace-practices-for-employee-safety

The death of globalisation?
The Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare the flaws of a highly globalised economic system based on comparative advantage which, while bringing prosperity to nations, has also left them helpless in a global health crunch.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/weekend/the-death-of-globalisation

New possibilities for well-being at work
It is time for leaders to commit to making workplaces a source of positive mental health for employees.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/leadership-management/new-possibilities-for-well-being-at-work

 

Update on COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Situation

Two Covid-19 community cases found to be virus-free after further tests
The Ministry of Health (MOH) removed two community cases it had announced earlier yesterday, after further tests confirmed the individuals did not have Covid-19. Initial tests showed they were borderline-positive.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/two-community-cases-found-to-be-virus-free-after-further-tests

342 workers quarantined
A total of 342 migrant workers will serve a 14-day quarantine after a Covid-19 patient was detected in the Tuas dormitory they were staying in. The workers were moved from the Space @ Tuas dorm to a government quarantine facility after the confirmed Covid-19 case was detected on Monday.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/342-workers-quarantined
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/342-migrant-workers-isolated-after-case-detected-in-dorm

Quarantine rules back home may deter Aussie, Vietnamese travellers
Singapore will allow travellers from Australia – except Victoria state – and Vietnam to enter from next Thursday, but many holidaymakers may prove reluctant to visit because they will still have to undergo quarantine when they return home.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/australianz/quarantine-rules-back-home-may-deter-aussie-vietnamese-travellers
*For more information, please visit the Ministry of Health (MOH) website at www.moh.gov.sg and refer to go.gov.sg/mohupdates for updates on the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) situation

 

Global Economy & Global Real Estate 

US home sales contracts hit record high with low mortgage rates
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/us-home-sales-contracts-hit-record-high-with-low-mortgage-rates

US weekly jobless claims fall; consumer spending solid in August
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/us-weekly-jobless-claims-fall-consumer-spending-solid-in-august

A tale of two Britains: housing boom deepens social divide
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/a-tale-of-two-britains-housing-boom-deepens-social-divide

Outage shuts down Tokyo bourse for entire day
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/banking-finance/outage-shuts-down-tokyo-bourse-for-entire-day
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/tokyo-bourse-halts-trading-for-whole-day-in-worst-ever-outage

Japan unemployment rises to 3-year high
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/japan-unemployment-rises-to-3-year-high

Li Ka-Shing sells world’s priciest skyscraper and shows who’s on top
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/li-ka-shing-sells-worlds-priciest-skyscraper-and-shows-whos-on-top

Thai tycoon bets on data centre demand boom from pandemic
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/thai-tycoon-bets-on-data-centre-demand-boom-from-pandemic-0
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/thai-tycoons-company-st-telemedia-to-build-data-centre-in-bangkok

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