DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 30th January 2019

Singapore Real Estate

Gilstead Court, Lakeside Apts back on en bloc market
Gilstead Court and Lakeside Apartments are returning to the en bloc market with possible lower reserve prices, said the marketing agents for both properties on Tuesday. For Gilstead Court, which was relaunched on Tuesday, the Collective Sale Committee (CSC) proposed to lower the reserve price from S$168 million to S$153 million. For Lakeside Apartments, the reserve price is possibly being lowered from S$240 million to S$205 million.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/gilstead-court-lakeside-apts-back-on-en-bloc-market
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/two-residential-sites-up-for-collective-sale-again

Mortgage demand flags in Dec on property curbs
Mortgage demand is flagging as private home buyers turned cautious in the wake of the July 6 cooling measures, tighter financing requirements and higher financing costs in a rising interest rate environment. A study by Credit Bureau Singapore (CBS) found new mortgage loan applications plunged 64.9 per cent to 4,423 in December from July last year, and were down 54 per cent from a year ago.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/mortgage-demand-flags-in-dec-on-property-curbs

JTC launches tender of Woodlands industrial site
JTC has put a 0.5ha Woodlands industrial park site up for tender. It is the first of five confirmed list sites under the first half of the 2019 Industrial Government Land Sales (IGLS) Programme, the government agency said on Tuesday (Jan 29). The site has a lease period of 20 years, with a gross plot ratio of 2.5 and a maximum building height of 66m above mean sea level. It is also zoned for Business-2 use, and the tender for the site will close on March 26, 11am.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/jtc-launches-tender-of-woodlands-industrial-site

Singapore Economy

How to fund rising fiscal spending?
As Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat prepares to present this year’s Budget on Feb 18, all eyes are now turning to how he plans to pay for it. Observers are torn on either a small surplus or small deficit for the closing fiscal year. As for the coming fiscal year, they await fresh details on big-ticket items such as the Merdeka Generation welfare package unveiled in the National Day Rally and infrastructure projects – but know that the bill must somehow be footed.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-budget-2019/how-to-fund-rising-fiscal-spending

Companies’ Brief

Pop-up luxury resort next on agenda of Christina Ong’s Como
Imagine staying in an intimate, private resort in Bhutan, surrounded by verdant fields, a lush valley and fresh mountain air. But weeks or months later, the bucolic resort would vanish. You’ll experience it just once, and never again.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/pop-up-luxury-resort-next-on-agenda-of-christina-ongs-como

Ascott Reit DPU up 5% in Q4; hospitality Reit eyeing opportunities in Australia, Europe, US
Ascott Residence Trust (Ascott Reit) unitholders can look forward to a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.15 Singapore cents on Feb 28. The DPU for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2018 represents a 5 per cent increase from the 2.04 Singapore cents distributed in the year-ago period.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ascott-reit-dpu-up-5-in-q4-hospitality-reit-eyeing-opportunities-in-australia
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/ascott-reit-dpu-up-5-to-215-cents

Cromwell E-Reit slides on married trade
Units of Cromwell European Real Estate Investment Trust (Cromwell E-Reit) shed some 5 per cent on Tuesday after a nearly 10 per cent stake in the Reit changed hands in the morning, with wealthy Singaporean couple Gordon and Celine Tang getting a bite of it.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/cromwell-e-reit-slides-on-married-trade

OUE Hospitality Trust Q4 DPS up 0.8% to 1.28 Singapore cents
OUE Hospitality Trust’s (OUE H-Trust) distribution per stapled security (DPS) for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31 rose to 1.28 Singapore cents, up 0.8 per cent from 1.27 cents. The increase was due to lower interest expense and higher contribution from the retail segment, partially offset by lower income received from the hospitality segment.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/oue-hospitality-trust-q4-dps-up-08-to-128-singapore-cents

CDL Hospitality Trusts’ Q4 DPS dips 2.1%
Total distribution per stapled security (DPS) for CDL Hospitality Trusts (CDLHT) fell 2.1 per cent to 2.77 Singapore cents for the fourth quarter compared to the same period a year ago. Overall revenue and net property income (NPI) both fell 5.4 per cent to S$52.28 million and S$38.41 million respectively for the three months to Dec 31, 2018, due to the absence of contribution from three properties.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/cdl-hospitality-trusts-q4-dps-dips-21
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/cdl-hospitality-trust-q4-dps-down-21

Parkway Life Reit DPU down 2.9% for Q4
Parkway Life Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) saw distribution per unit (DPU) fall 2.9 per cent to 3.28 cents for the three months ended Dec 31, mainly due to the absence of a one-off divestment gain in the year-ago period.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/parkway-life-reit-dpu-down-29-for-q4

Fortune Reit raises full year DPU by 1% on positive rental reversions
Fortune Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) will pay out 51.28 Hong Kong cents per unit for 2018, 1 per cent more than its 2017 distribution, as the residential and retail trust on Tuesday (Jan 29) reported positive rental reversions and increased car park income in its latest fiscal year.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/fortune-reit-raises-full-year-dpu-by-1-on-positive-rental-reversions

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Outlook for Singapore property expected to improve in 2019
Singapore property prices and rents will rise in 2019, in our view, and we expect depressed stock valuations to narrow the gap with healthy property fundamentals, particularly for developers.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/executive-money/outlook-for-singapore-property-expected-to-improve-in-2019