DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 29th March 2017

Top Story

Private home resale prices dip 0.3% in February: NUS index
Condo resale prices continued to dip last month in a sign that this market segment has yet to bottom out. Values declined by 0.3 per cent from January to February, according to flash estimates of the NUS Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) out yesterday. The fall followed the 0.1 per cent dip in values from December to January. “The statistics indicates that the bottom of the private residential resale price cycle is still not in sight yet,” noted SLP International Property Consultants research head Nicholas Mak. Mr Mak added that overall resale prices for private non-landed homes could drop by between 3 and 4 per cent for the whole of 2017, going by the current rate of decline.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/private-home-resale-prices-dip-03-in-february-nus-index

Singapore Economy

Local crowdfunding platform to tap ‘mass affluent’ with easing of MAS rules
Local crowdfunding platform FundedHere, which has been offering crowdfunded equity and loans to wealthy “accredited investors” in Singapore, wants to open up its platform to professionals earning at least S$100,000 a year, partner Daniel Lin said on Tuesday. It is also eyeing acquisitions of crowdfunding platforms in Malaysia and Indonesia to grow its footprint across the region, he said, adding that the company was “looking to do a fundraising round soon” to fund the purchases.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/local-crowdfunding-platform-to-tap-mass-affluent-with-easing-of-mas-rules

Softening of medical tourism nudges health groups overseas
Singapore’s medical tourism has not been in the pink of health of late, with well-heeled medical tourists now looking elsewhere for health care, where standards have risen and treatment comes at more competitive prices. So instead of trying to attract foreigners to Singapore for dental work, heart bypasses and a nip-and-tuck, some of Singapore’s biggest private hospital groups are changing tack. With their brand names still firmly in hand, they are investing in medical facilities outside Singapore, where they have set up shop to provide their foreign patients with the high-quality care they are reputed for.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/consumer/softening-of-medical-tourism-nudges-health-groups-overseas

Singapore Real Estate

URA probes barriers at Clifford Pier
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is investigating a case where access to Clifford Pier was blocked, despite regulations to ensure the area remains open to the public after it was sold by the URA in 2006 and redeveloped into the Fullerton Bay Hotel. In three photos dated March 2, obstacles such as a long couch and large potted plants could be seen blocking public access to parts of the waterfront at Collyer Quay, including Clifford Pier. The couch cordoned off a part of the deck at the pier, while the potted plants were placed in front of doors leading into the Fullerton Bay Hotel, beside signs which indicated that the area was to be “accessible at all times”.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ura-probes-barriers-at-clifford-pier

Companies’ Brief

Offer to delist Top Global as QC penalties loom
Top Global’s difficulty in selling Singapore residential units within a regulatory timeframe has led executive chairwoman Oei Siu Hoa to launch a privatisation offer to avoid paying penalties. Ms Oei, who also goes by Sukmawati Widjaja, is offering to buy up the rest of the property and education group she does not own for 33 Singapore cents per share. Made through private investment vehicle SW International Holding, the offer represents a 50 per cent premium to Top Global’s pre-announcement closing price of 22 Singapore cents, and values the company at about S$106 million. The offer is final and will not be revised.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/offer-to-delist-top-global-as-qc-penalties-loom
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/top-global-chairman-in-bid-to-delist-from-sgx

CapitaLand inks first mall management contract in Singapore
CapitaLand Ltd is pushing ahead with an asset-light strategy as it inks its first third-party mall management contract in Singapore. The property and retail giant announced on Tuesday that it has – through wholly owned CapitaLand Mall Asia – signed the contract with Singapore Post (SingPost) for its upcoming mall at the new SingPost Centre in Paya Lebar Central.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/capitaland-inks-first-mall-management-contract-in-singapore
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/capitaland-to-manage-mall-at-singpost-centre
http://www.todayonline.com/business/coming-soon-new-mall-gpo-singpost-centre

Wee Hur to buy Adelaide property for A$6m for redevelopment to student housing
Wee Hur Holdings on Tuesday said it is looking to buy a property at 89-109 Gray Street, Adelaide in Australia for A$5.995 million (S$6.36 million) plus GST. The office warehouse building sits on freehold land between the main thoroughfares of Currie Street and Waymouth Street, in the north-western quadrant of the Adelaide CBD. The property has been owner-occupied since the 1970s but will be delivered with vacant possession at settlement. It has a large total site area of about 2,466 square metres.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/wee-hur-to-buy-adelaide-property-for-a6m-for-redevelopment-to-student-housing

China International Holdings unit taken to court over repayment of alleged loan
China International Holdings’ 55 per cent-owned unit faces a court claim for the repayment of an alleged loan, the group said in a Singapore Exchange filing Tuesday. It said Yichang Xinshougang Property Development had received a notice from the Yichang city intermediate court to attend a hearing for a claim filed by Yiling District Urban Infrastructure Investment.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/china-international-holdings-unit-taken-to-court-over-repayment-of-alleged-loan

Views, Reviews & Forum

S’pore’s real estate story
Very few countries can claim the distinction of achieving so much as rapidly as Singapore has in transforming itself over 50 years from a Third World port city to a thriving modern world-class metropolis. This success story is underpinned by a strong public-private partnership, combining pragmatic government policies and executional competence with the entrepreneurial and innovative skills of the private sector.
http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/spores-real-estate-story

Buyers who pay high prices for old flats face reality check
Last year, Ms Siah Yuet Whey bought a Housing Board flat that is older than she is. She is 28 years old. It is 44. This means that she will most likely outlive its lease – which runs out in 55 years. She will be 83 then. That did not stop her and her husband, 31, from paying more than $700,000 for the three-room unit in Jalan Ma’mor, in Whampoa.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/buyers-who-pay-high-prices-for-old-flats-face-reality-check

Bright outlook for real assets: Brookfield
Real assets such as infrastructure and real estate are expected to continue to generate attractive returns, even as interest rates creep upwards. Bruce Flatt, chief executive of Brookfield Asset Management, believes interest rates will stay relatively low – a good backdrop for real assets. “We continue to think rates globally will be low for at least this cycle. Europe, Japan, the UK will all be even lower than the US. As a result all the real asset products and investments we make can still earn a very good return on capital.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/executive-money/bright-outlook-for-real-assets-brookfield