DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 21, 22 & 23 Dec 2019

Singapore Real Estate

Singapore property market expected to hold steady in 2020
Singapore’s property market has been nothing but resilient in 2019. In particular, the residential primary sales market stood out as demand strengthened in the second half of the year even as trade tensions between the United States and China escalated, and the 2019 economic outlook for Singapore dimmed.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-property-market-expected-to-hold-steady-in-2020

Singapore’s renewed love affair with Aussie property driving acquisitions
Singapore investors’ love for Australian real estate was rekindled this year, with acquisitions up 20 per cent to US$3.4 billion driven by the transparent and deep market, good yields, freehold opportunities and cheap currency. “Australia has always been a treasure cove of acquisition targets for Singapore companies; maybe it’s a Singaporean thing… where we go there so often for holidays or to (further our) studies,”…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapores-renewed-love-affair-with-aussie-property-driving-acquisitions

URA offers sweeteners to 3 buildings to spur Orchard makeover
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is offering the owners of Midpoint Orchard, Orchard OG and Faber House sweeteners to spur them to redevelop as part of Singapore’s plan to rejuvenate its most famous shopping belt. Observers said that this could be a way to negotiate the tricky situation surrounding Midpoint Orchard – a strata-titled building which, The Straits Times understands, has about 60 owners.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/ura-offers-sweeteners-to-3-buildings-to-spur-orchard-makeover

$2.9b spent on Home Improvement Programme for HDB flats
The Government has spent about $2.9 billion on the Home Improvement Programme by the Housing Board (HDB) as of March 31. As of Oct 31, about 170,400 flats have had upgrading works completed, while another 132,300 are undergoing the upgrades.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/29b-spent-on-home-improvement-programme-for-hdb-flats
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/s29-billion-spent-repair-upgrading-works-older-flats-hdb

Companies’ Brief

SPH buys 7 more UK student accommodation assets for £411m
Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) has expanded its purpose-built student accommodation portfolio with the acquisition of seven assets in the UK for £411 million (S$739.9 million). This will add 2,383 beds to SPH’s portfolio to a total of 7,726 beds across 18 cities in the UK and Germany, the media group said on Monday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/sph-buys-7-more-uk-student-accommodation-assets-for-%C2%A3411m
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/sph-buys-7-more-uk-student-accommodation-assets-for-ps411m

ARA Asset Management to form JV with European investment manager
ARA Asset Management, through its subsidiary ARA UK Asset Management, will establish a joint venture (JV) with Venn Partners to create and manage real estate debt funds and other ownership vehicles in Europe. The deal for the proposed JV, ARA Venn, is expected to complete by the first quarter of 2020, subject to regulatory approvals, ARA said in a bourse filing on Monday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ara-asset-management-to-form-jv-with-european-investment-manager

Straits Trading unit invests in A$36m debt for Melbourne home project
A unit of mainboard-listed property group The Straits Trading Company has subscribed to A$36 million (S$33.6 million) in secured notes to fund an Australian developer’s upcoming project, the Straits Trading board said in a bourse announcement on Friday. SRE Venture 17’s subscription – which will be paid for with a mix of internal resources and bank borrowings – is meant to fund a 600-unit high-rise private-home…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/straits-trading-unit-invests-in-a36m-debt-for-melbourne-home-project

GYP Properties misses out on New Zealand land-buy deal
Mainboard-listed developer GYP Properties’ plan to buy a plot of vacant freehold land in New Zealand has fallen through, with the agreement terminated on Friday, the board disclosed. According to bourse filings, GYP failed to get consent for the transaction under New Zealand’s Overseas Investment Act that was “on terms reasonably acceptable to the purchaser” – a key condition precedent for the NZ$6 million…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/gyp-properties-misses-out-on-new-zealand-land-buy-deal

Ocean Sky International to buy Melbourne office block for A$21.8m
Catalist-listed civil engineering firm Ocean Sky International inked a deal on Friday to buy an office block in Melbourne for A$21.83 million (S$20.4 million), the board announced. The four-storey freehold building at 541, Blackburn Road in the Monash Technology precinct has a net lettable area of 3,628 square metres and is fully leased with a weighted average lease expiry of 3.83 years.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ocean-sky-international-to-buy-melbourne-office-block-for-a218m

Accordia Golf Trust reveals its parent is behind offer to buy entire portfolio
Japan-based business trust Accordia Golf Trust, which last month saw units surge on the potential sale of all 89 golf courses in its portfolio, revealed on Friday that the offer to buy up the assets came from its own parent. Accordia Golf Co, which has a controlling stake of 28.9 per cent in the trust, was behind the non-binding proposal disclosed on Nov 28, the manager has said.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/accordia-golf-trust-reveals-its-parent-is-behind-offer-to-buy-entire-portfolio

Suzhou Industrial Park developer raises 1.36b yuan in IPO
The joint-venture company that developed the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) has raised 1.36 billion yuan (S$262 million) in an initial public offering (IPO) that took nearly 15 years to bring to fruition. The China-Singapore SIP Development Group Co (CSSD), formed in August 1994, is the master developer for the 80 square kilometre Singapore-China collaborative area in the SIP, the first such government-to…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/suzhou-industrial-park-developer-raises-136b-yuan-in-ipo

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Forum: HDB reform proposals will further separate resale and BTO markets
I thank Associate Professor Walter Theseira and Mr Nicholas Mak for their comments on some of our HDB reform proposals (HDB lease top-up proposal has drawbacks: Observers, Dec 17). Mr Mak argued that our proposed lease extension in Future of Singapore, presented by Mr Ku Swee Yong, Mr Tay Kheng Soon and me, would face popular outcry if it were ever stopped after introduction. But isn’t this true of all good…
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/hdb-reform-proposals-will-further-separate-resale-and-bto-markets