DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 4th January 2019

Singapore Real Estate

Singapore Reits start the year well, ‘likely to continue to shine’
Real estate investment trusts (Reits) are doing well, as investors take cover behind yield plays. Only a handful of the 36 Reits listed on the Singapore Exchange fell on Thursday, while the wider market continued to wallow in a red sea. The Reits sub-index has risen almost 1 per cent since the start of the trading year on Wednesday. A year ago, it was down 9.3 per cent.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/singapore-reits-start-the-year-well-likely-to-continue-to-shine

Dairy Farm hikes price to S$1.84b in push for 80% owner sign-up
The New Year’s Eve countdown is done, but the clock continues to tick for en bloc candidates as they race against a cooling market and various deadlines governing collective sales. The pressure has even led some projects to raise their asking price to persuade owners to come on board – which fly in the face of potential buyers’ increasing aversion to mega tabs.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/dairy-farm-hikes-price-to-s184b-in-push-for-80-owner-sign-up

Siblings owning 2 units file objections to City Towers sale
If a pair of siblings have their way, the collective sale of City Towers, sold last February to a unit linked to Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing for S$401.9 million, will not go through. The brother and sister, who own two units at the freehold residential development along Bukit Timah Road, have filed their objections to the en bloc sale. A hearing will be held at the Singapore High Court on Jan 10. The court will decide if the objections are valid. If they are, it will not give the sale order for the en bloc sale.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/siblings-owning-2-units-file-objections-to-city-towers-sale

Cavenagh Gardens to sell en bloc again, no change to $480m reserve price
Cavenagh Gardens is the latest development hoping for another chance to sell en bloc, but the owners are not budging from their initial reserve price of $480 million. The project comprises three blocks of 172 apartments, spanning 128,255 sq ft with a gross plot ratio of 2.1. Marketing agent JLL said the site could be redeveloped to yield 400 apartments of about 740 sq ft each.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/cavenagh-gardens-to-sell-en-bloc-again-no-change-to-480m-reserve-price
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/cavenagh-gardens-tries-again-for-en-bloc-sale-keeps-s480m-reserve-price

HDB resale transactions down 24% in December 2018
The number of Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats that changed hands in December 2018 was 23.9 per cent lower than in November, a bigger fall than a year ago, according to flash data from real estate portal SRX on Thursday. This was the fifth straight month of decline since last July’s cooling measures which included a tightening of loan limits.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/hdb-resale-transactions-down-24-in-december-2018
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/hdb-resale-transactions-slide-for-fifth-straight-month

Singapore Economy

Manufacturing activity eases for 4th straight month in December
A gauge of manufacturing activity in Singapore slipped for the fourth straight month in December last year, pointing to a more sluggish few months ahead for the sector amid trade war uncertainties and the peaking of electronics cycles. The Singapore Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) dipped by 0.4 point from the previous month to record a slower expansion of 51.1, clocking its slowest reading since July 2017.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/infographics/manufacturing-activity-eases-for-4th-straight-month-in-december
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/singapore-factory-growth-lowest-since-last-july
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/factory-growth-cools-pmi-down-04-point-in-december

Companies’ Brief

Ascendas-Singbridge acquires India land parcel to develop IT park
Ascendas-Singbridge Group has announced the acquisition of a 4.9-hectare land parcel in Chennai from land aggregator GSquare Group. It has a total development potential of 2.3 million square feet, and will be developed into an IT park called International Tech Park Chennai (ITPC).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/ascendas-singbridge-acquires-india-land-parcel-to-develop-it-park-0

Chip Eng Seng launches two new pre-school centres
Chip Eng Seng Corporation has opened two more pre-school centres in Singapore, in line with plans to diversify and continue growing its education business. In separate filings to the Singapore Exchange on Wednesday, the property group said that it had launched its first Repton-brand pre-school centre, as well as a new pre-school and childcare centre by its 70 per cent-held subsidiary, White Lodge Education Group Services (WLEGS). Chip Eng Seng has nine pre-school centres in Singapore and another two in Malaysia.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/chip-eng-seng-launches-two-new-pre-school-centres

VIEWS, REVIEWS, FORUM & Others

Look Ahead 2019: Property — A subdued year in store, after a frenzied period
Not since 2007 has the property market had such an eventful year. 2018 will be remembered most for the year the en bloc movement reached fever pitch, which went by with multiple asking prices above S$2 billion, ugly spats between neighbours, and calls among the heritage-minded to preserve iconic developments, such as Pearl Bank Apartments and Golden Mile Complex.
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/look-ahead-2019-property-subdued-year-store-after-frenzied-period

The blue economy and seasteading: A key growth driver for Singapore
Singapore is well-positioned to capitalise on the convergence of the growing blue economy and the emergence of seasteading, with the potential to become a prime mover in the development of floating cities.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/the-blue-economy-and-seasteading-a-key-growth-driver-for-singapore