DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 29th May 2019

Singapore Real Estate

Completed condo prices edge up 0.2%
Prices of completed private apartments and condominiums in Singapore inched up 0.2 per cent in April from the previous month, after staying flat in March. The figures are flash estimates released on Tuesday by the National University of Singapore (NUS) for its Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI), which tracks prices of completed non-landed private homes.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/completed-condo-prices-edge-up-02
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/prices-of-non-landed-private-homes-up-02-in-april

25-year-old Cascadale condo in Changi up for en bloc sale with S$270m reserve price
The owners of Cascadale are, for the first time, putting the 25-year-old condominium development up for collective sale with a reserve price of S$270 million, marketing agent JLL announced on Tuesday. This translates to a land rate of about S$1,071 psf ppr, after including an estimated development charge of about S$17 million and before factoring any bonus gross floor areas, said JLL.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/25-year-old-cascadale-condo-in-changi-up-for-en-bloc-sale-with-s270m-reserve-price
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/cascadale-up-for-sale-en-bloc-with-reserve-price-of-270m

Newton Lodge makes 2nd attempt at collective sale, again with S$44m minimum price
Newton Lodge, a 16-unit apartment development near Novena MRT station, is making a second attempt at a collective sale. The vendors are expecting a minimum of S$44 million for the freehold 21,409 square feet (sq ft) site zoned “residential”, which reflects a land rate of S$1,468 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) based on an allowable 1.4 gross plot ratio.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/newton-lodge-makes-2nd-attempt-at-collective-sale-again-with-s44m-minimum-price
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/newton-lodge-takes-2nd-stab-at-collective-sale

JTC launches tender for Senoko Drive site
JTC has launched a tender for a site at Senoko Drive, and made a site located at Tuas Avenue 6 available for application, it said on Tuesday. The Senoko Drive site has a tenure of 30 years and a site area of 1.22 hectares (ha), with a gross plot ratio (GPR) of 2.5.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/jtc-launches-tender-for-senoko-drive-site
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/jtc-launches-tender-for-senoko-drive-site-tuas-site-available-for-application

Singapore Economy

Singapore tops in world competitiveness ranking
Singapore emerged tops in an annual world competitiveness ranking of 63 economies for the first time since 2010, moving up two spots to trump the US. According to the IMD World Economic Rankings, Singapore’s win came on the back of its advanced technological infrastructure, the availability of skilled labour, favourable immigration laws, and the ease of setting up new businesses.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-tops-in-world-competitiveness-ranking
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singapore-economy-rated-most-competitive-us-slips-to-third-spot
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/most-competitive-economy-singapore-hong-kong-united-states-imd-11573444

Singapore is 8th most powerful country in Asia-Pacific; China closes in on US for top spot: think-tank
Of 25 countries globally, Singapore ranks eighth in terms of the power it wields in the Asia-Pacific region, while Malaysia takes ninth place, according to the latest Asia Power Index, a data-driven comparative assessment of power in the region by think-tank Lowy Institute. The other nations in the top 10 for overall power in 2019 are: the US, China, Japan, India, Russia, South Korea, Australia and Thailand, the Lowy Institute said in a media statement on Tuesday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-is-8th-most-powerful-country-in-asia-pacific-china-closes-in-on-us-for

Companies’ Brief

Metro’s new CEO outlines growth plans
The leadership refresh at Metro Holdings, which will put current group deputy chief executive Yip Hoong Mun in the driver’s seat from June, has in fact been a few years in the making. Since he joined the property and retail firm in 2017, Mr Yip was in fact “designated from day one” to take over as group chief executive, incumbent Lawrence Chiang, 67, told media on Tuesday in a group interview.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/metros-new-ceo-outlines-growth-plans
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/metro-posts-51m-net-profit-in-q4-on-fair-value-gains

Accordia Golf Trust Q4 loss per unit widens on impairment losses
Accordia Golf Trust on Tuesday posted a loss per unit of 20.71 Singapore cents for the fourth quarter ended March 31, widening from a loss per unit of 3.19 Singapore cents for the year-ago period. But for the six months ended March 31, it has declared a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.13 Singapore cents, with a book closure date of June 12 and payment on June 21.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/accordia-golf-trust-q4-loss-per-unit-widens-on-impairment-losses

Top Global halts trading amid news of Allied Tech director selling office-retail space to the property group
Mainboard-listed Top Global has requested a trading halt, “pending release of an announcement”, the property group said on Wednesday morning after the market opened. This comes as Kenneth Low Si Ren, the executive director of Allied Technologies, is believed to have made a quick flip of a parcel of office and retail space in Thong Teck Building, selling it to Top Global for S$129.5 million.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/top-global-halts-trading-amid-news-of-allied-tech-director-selling-office-retail
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/allied-tech-executive-director-in-s129m-fast-property-flip

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Open up market for short-term home stays
Short-term stays in private homes are often preferred by millennials, in this age of mobile apps where one can access information and services from the convenience of a mobile phone (Living among tourists, May 26). There has been pushback against the phenomenon in some countries, while others have made it legal – one example being Sydney in Australia.
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/open-up-market-for-short-term-home-stays