DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 2nd, 3rd and 4th February 2019

Singapore Real Estate

Singapore-centric developers, construction counters, Reits start 2019 strongly
Singapore’s largest capitalised property developers, construction firms and real estate investment trusts (Reits) with a strong Singapore focus have made a solid start to the year. According to a Singapore Exchange (SGX) Market Update report, the five largest Singapore-focused developers, construction stocks, and Reits saw average returns of 4.7 per cent, 5.2 per cent and 7.3 per cent, respectively in January this year (as at Jan 26).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/singapore-centric-developers-construction-counters-reits-start-2019-strongly

Cross Island MRT Line gives condo projects lift
The upcoming first phase of the Cross Island Line – Singapore’s longest fully underground MRT line – seems to be proving a bonanza for some condominium projects near proposed stations. Affinity at Serangoon and The Garden Residences, which were both launched about a month before the cooling measures were introduced on July 5 last year, have seen a spike in buying interest since details of the new line were announced last week.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/cross-island-line-gives-condo-projects-lift

Brookvale Park’s owners to get en bloc hongbao as sale is approved
Now that a sale order has just been granted for Brookvale Park condo’s en bloc, buyer Hoi Hup Sunway will soon be able to embark on its redevelopment, which includes a plan to extend Sunset Way by cutting through the site and a forested area to connect to Clementi Road, its spokesperson told The Business Times on Friday. The Sunset Way neighbourhood currently has just one connection to Clementi Road.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/brookvale-parks-owners-to-get-en-bloc-hongbao-as-sale-is-approved

Tulip Garden succeeds in en bloc sale on fourth try
The sale of Tulip Garden for S$906.9 million, on its fourth attempt at an en bloc sale, has reached a happy conclusion, after market talk that the mammoth deal had hit a snag.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/tulip-garden-succeeds-in-en-bloc-sale-on-fourth-try

Section of Market Street to become a park
A section of Market Street will become a 1,000 sq m public park, with work beginning on Feb 17.
With the section to be permanently closed from that date, motorists driving along Church Street and heading to Chulia Street should use D’Almeida Street, after the Cecil Street junction, the Land Transport Authority said yesterday.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/section-of-market-street-to-become-a-park

Singapore Economy

Hotel occupancy rate in 2018 highest since 2012
The phrase “no room at the inn” has never seemed more apt, with hotels in Singapore packed to the gills these days. The market started to pick up speed in 2017 after four stagnant years but really hit high gear last year on the back of more tourist arrivals and a slowdown in new rooms coming on stream.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/hotel-occupancy-rate-in-2018-highest-since-2012

Companies’ Brief

CapitaLand Retail China Trust Q4 DPU up 2.1%
CapitaLand Retail China Trust (CRCT) said its distribution per unit (DPU) rose 2.1 per cent to 2.42 Singapore cents for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2018. Its distributable income increased 7.7 per cent year-on-year to S$23.7 million while net property income rose 8.8 per cent to S$35.9 million.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/capitaland-retail-china-trust-q4-dpu-up-21

AA Reit’s Q3 DPU dips 4.6% to S$0.025
AIMS AMP Capital Industrial Reit (AA Reit) on Friday posted a third-quarter distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.5 Singapore cents, down 4.6 per cent from 2.62 cents for the same period a year ago. Gross revenue for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2018 was S$29.8 million, up 3.3 per cent from S$28.9 million previously, a result of maiden rental contributions from 51 Marsiling Road from April 27, 2018, and 8 Tuas Avenue 20 from December 2017.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/aa-reits-q3-dpu-dips-46-to-s0025

Cohen & Steers increases stake in PLife Reit
For the month of January 2019, the Straits Times Index (STI) generated a 4.0 per cent gain, with average gains of 5.4 per cent for the Hang Seng Index, Nikkei 225 Index and S&P/ASX 200 Index. For the five trading sessions ended Jan 31, the STI ended unchanged while the Hang Seng Index, Nikkei 225 index and S&P/ASX 200 averaged a 1.3 per cent gain.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/cohen-steers-increases-stake-in-plife-reit

MBS’ luxury mall rings out 2018 with record revenue of US$179m
The cash registers rang loud and clear throughout 2018 at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands (MBS), with the luxury mall racking up its highest sales revenue in a calendar year since the integrated resort (IR) opened its doors nearly nine years ago. The mall, which has an occupancy rate of 95.4 per cent, raked in a record revenue of US$179 million last year, up 7 per cent from 2017.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/consumer/mbs-luxury-mall-rings-out-2018-with-record-revenue-of-us179m

honestbee gets nod to pilot new industrial space concept
Homegrown honestbee is the first startup to receive approvals to incorporate a large-scale retail operation as part of its industrial land’s ancillary use – a move that suggests greater flexibility from the authorities in dealing with new business models. In October last year, the startup launched habitat by honestbee, a tech-enabled, grocery and dining concept which occupies 60,000 square feet of space in an industrial building at Boon Leat Terrace.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/garage/honestbee-gets-nod-to-pilot-new-industrial-space-concept-0

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Life after en bloc
The hoary chestnut that money can’t buy happiness probably applies to a good many en bloc millionaires, a unique Singapore species who appeared not due to evolution, but rather a property transaction process which has resulted in thousands of individuals being made suddenly and seriously rich. In 2017, there were 3,492 apartments sold in collective sales worth S$8.6 billion, compared to 3,216 units which netted S$10.8 billion in the first 11 months of 2018, according to real estate consultancy JLL Research.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/brunch/life-after-en-bloc

Million-dollar HDB flats: Location, type and size count
Last year, Ms Casslyn Lim, 41, sold not one but two Housing Board flats for over $1 million. It was the first time she had sold such high-priced HDB flats in her nine years as a property agent. In any case, she was not the only agent to have done so. Last year, 71 HDB flats were sold for $1 million and more – the highest to date.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/million-dollar-hdb-flats-location-type-and-size-count

Office sector to remain star performer in 2019
Singapore’s Office Price Index rose by 5.7 per cent the whole of last year compared with a 2.4 per cent decline in 2017, according to statistics from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). With the index rising six straight quarters, accumulating a total gain of 8.9 per cent from the trough in the second quarter of 2017, office prices are just 0.07 per cent away from the all-time high in the second quarter of 2015 since the start of the century.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/invest/office-sector-to-remain-star-performer-in-2019

Starting early in home investments
Like many Singaporeans, real estate industry executive Wendeline Goh has a love affair with property. But unlike most of us, she bought her first private apartment at the tender age of 26. Ms Goh, 42, a division director at ERA, believes property is an asset that can appreciate over time and is a good hedge for inflation. “Take property as a form of savings, as the instalments you pay each month will eventually come back to you,” she notes.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/invest/starting-early-in-home-investments

Expat tenants gripe online about rental deposit woes, saying landlords hold their money ransom, make unreasonable cleaning,
epair demands
Polish the marble floor, buff the wooden staircase and sand the kitchen tops before returning the keys, the landlord demanded. Oh, and if you decline or seek any legal recourse, you risk losing your security deposit.
That was the ultimatum put to software sales professional Megha Bhattacharya, 26, when she ended her lease of a condominium penthouse last year, and she is not alone.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/expat-tenants-gripe-online-about-rental-deposit-woes