DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 26th April 2019

Singapore Real Estate

Private home prices slipped 0.7% in Q1 2019: URA
Singapore’s private residential price index declined 0.7 per cent in the first quarter this year, following a 0.1 per cent decrease in the fourth quarter according to Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) statistics. The Q1 fall in was slightly steeper than the 0.6 per cent decrease in URA’s flash estimate released earlier this month.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/private-home-prices-slipped-07-in-q1-2019-ura
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/private-home-prices-drop-07-in-q1-for-second-straight-quarterly-decline-ura-final

Private home rents recover with 1% rise in Q1; vacancy rate dips to 6.3% : URA
SINGAPORE – Rents of private residential properties rose 1.0 per cent in the first quarter of this year from the previous three months, reversing a 1.0 per cent fall in the previous quarter, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released on Friday morning (April 26). Rents of landed properties increased by 0.2 per cent January to March quarter, compared with the 2.1 per cent drop in the previous quarter.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/private-home-rents-recover-with-1-rise-in-q1-vacancy-rate-dips-to-63-ura
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/private-home-rents-recover-with-1-rise-in-q1-vacancy-rate-dips-to-63-ura

HDB resale prices slip 0.3% in Q1 as volume falls 14.2%
Fewer Housing Board flats changed hands in the first three months of the year compared with the last quarter of 2018, falling 14.2 per cent to 4,835 cases. Compared with the same period at the start of last year, however, the number of transactions was still 8.5 per cent higher.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/hdb-resale-prices-slip-03-in-q1-as-volume-falls-142
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/hdb-resale-prices-flats-transactions-down-q1-11480344

Developers finding it tough to locate showflats on project site
Some developers are housing their showflats in unconventional places – from malls, industrial buildings, to even several kilometres away from the actual condo site. A more crowded new launch landscape and slower residential sales could make this even more common.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/developers-finding-it-tough-to-locate-showflats-on-project-site

Industrial property market to hold firm in 2019, business parks seen as bright spot
The industrial property market appears to have bottomed out, with analysts projecting a stable market outlook for this year and citing business parks as a likely outperformer. Rentals and prices of industrial space in Singapore were relatively stable in the first quarter of 2019 compared with the preceeding quarter, according to the latest data from industrial land and infrastructure agency JTC Corp.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/industrial-property-market-to-hold-firm-in-2019-business-parks-seen-as-bright-spot
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/industrial-space-rent-and-prices-stable-in-q1-jtc-corp

Coastline Residences to launch this weekend at S$2,450 psf
East Coast is heating up with launches galore, with possible major launches this year yielding at least 1,500 units, going by Knight Frank’s estimates in March. The next one up is Coastline Residences on Amber Road, which will be launched for sale this weekend at an average of around S$2,450 per square foot (psf).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/coastline-residences-to-launch-this-weekend-at-s2450-psf

Singapore Economy

Building maintenance and construction main sectors: CPIB
The construction and building maintenance sectors were flagged as the two main culprits that form the bulk of corruption cases in 2018, according to the latest annual statistics by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB). Employees hauled to court from these two sectors make up about one-third, or 35 of the 107 private sector individuals, prosecuted last year.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/building-maintenance-and-construction-main-sectors-cpib
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/corruption-remains-firmly-under-control-says-cpib
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/construction-building-maintenance-activities-areas-of-concern-in-11478062

Companies’ Brief

Starhill Global Reit posts higher Q3 DPU
Starhill Global Reit on Thursday posted a 0.9 per cent rise in distribution per unit (DPU) to 1.1 Singapore cents for the third quarter ended March 31. This was mainly due to lower tax expenses and distributable income retained, and partially offset by lower net property income (NPI) and higher interest costs.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/starhill-global-reit-posts-higher-q3-dpu

Another US hospitality trust looks to list on SGX
Just two days after ARA Group lodged a preliminary prospectus to list about US$720 million of US hotels under the Hyatt brand into a business trust, another issuer, the manager of Eagle Hospitality Trust (EHT) has also lodged a preliminary prospectus to list its portfolio of US hotel assets. The offering price range is currently between US$0.80 and US$0.81 per stapled security.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/another-us-hospitality-trust-looks-to-list-on-sgx

Activist fund calls for merger of Ascendas Hospitality Trust, Ascott Reit
Real estate investment trust (Reit) mergers are the flavour of the season, and activist fund Quarz Capital Management is advocating a union of CapitaLand’s two hospitality trusts. In a letter on Thursday, Quarz argued that Ascendas Hospitality Trust (A-H Trust) is undervalued due to its “suboptimal size”, and should be merged with larger peer Ascott Reit, which CapitaLand also controls.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/activist-fund-calls-for-merger-of-ascendas-hospitality-trust-ascott-reit
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/ascendas-hospitality-trust-should-merge-with-ascott-reit-says-quarz

Manulife US Reit Q1 DPU up 22.8% to 1.51 US cents
Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) said on Thursday its distribution per unit (DPU) for the first quarter rose 22.8 per cent to 1.51 US cents from 1.23 cents for the year-ago quarter. However, adjusted DPU – which normalises the impact of an enlarged unit base from a preferential offering of 227.9 million units issued on June 20, 2018 – was up 0.7 per cent to 1.51 US cents from 1.50 US cents for the same quarter last year.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/manulife-us-reit-q1-dpu-up-228-to-151-us-cents
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/manulife-us-reit-q1-dpu-up-228-to-151-us-cents