DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 5th Mar 2020 (Thu)

Singapore Real Estate

Singapore leads in Asian outbound real estate investment for 2019
At US$15 billion, Singapore accounted for the highest outbound investment in real estate among Asian investors for the second year running in 2019, although investment volume was down by a third year-on-year owing to a lack of large portfolio transactions, a CBRE report said.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-leads-in-asian-outbound-real-estate-investment-for-2019

S-Reits steal the show after Fed rate cut
Investors piled in on Singapore real estate investment trusts (S-Reits) after the US Federal Reserve’s 50-basis-point emergency rate cut to boost confidence in the economy amid the Covid-19 outbreak. On Wednesday, Reits – often viewed as key beneficiaries of reduced borrowing costs – outperformed the broader market.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/s-reits-steal-the-show-after-fed-rate-cut
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/s-reits-on-the-rise-after-us-rate-cut

Fragrance Group boss selling Sentosa Cove villa for S$24m
Fragrance Group boss Koh Wee Meng is understood to be in the early stages of selling a sea-fronting bungalow in Sentosa Cove for S$24 million. The price works out to S$2,464 per square foot based on the land area of 9,740 sq ft. The property, along Cove Grove and with views of the Southern Islands, is on a site with 99-year leasehold tenure starting late-June 2008, leaving a balance of about 87 years.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/fragrance-group-boss-selling-sentosa-cove-villa-for-s24m

10-year plan to make HDB estates more sustainable
A large-scale pilot involving several neighbourhoods will be conducted to see if cool paint – a new type of paint which reflects the sun’s heat – can help to cool Housing Board (HDB) towns. Data from the pilot, which aims to reduce ambient temperature by up to 2 deg C, will help determine if using cool paint on building facades, roofs and pavements is effective and could be rolled out across Singapore.
https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/10-year-plan-to-make-hdb-estates-more-sustainable
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/spores-2030-goal-more-gardens-park-connectors

HDB to do away with re-offer of balance flats exercises
The Housing & Development Board (HDB) is doing away with the re-offer of balance flats (ROF) exercises, so that most of the unselected flats from the sale of balance flats (SBF) exercises can be offered directly for open booking. Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong shared this on Wednesday. Currently, unsold flats from build-to-order (BTO) exercises are first offered at SBF exercises.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-budget-2020/hdb-to-do-away-with-re-offer-of-balance-flats-exercises
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/more-balance-flats-to-be-offered-for-open-booking-earlier

Assisted living public flats for seniors launching in May
Singapore’s first assisted living public housing for seniors will be launched in Bukit Batok in May. The new flat typology, which integrates public housing with care services, will come with a service package to support seniors to age in place.
https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/assisted-living-public-flats-for-seniors-launching-in-may

Singapore Economy

Fed cut alone not enough to boost confidence: Chan Chun Sing
Singapore’s Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing said it’ll take more than an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve to boost sentiment in the global economy amid a spreading coronavirus outbreak. “It takes more than just a Fed cut to restore the confidence because people must see and feel for themselves the confidence in how governments are handling this in a coherent way,” Mr Chan said…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/fed-cut-alone-not-enough-to-boost-confidence-chan-chun-sing

Fed’s rate cut thrusts Singapore banks into thicker fog
The surprise rate cut by the US Federal Reserve overnight has only added to the skittishness about the strength of economic growth ahead, and with that, banks here have become enveloped in further uncertainty.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/banking-finance/feds-rate-cut-thrusts-singapore-banks-into-thicker-fog

Companies’ Brief

Evia Real Estate to sharpen focus on ECs, commercial real estate
Local developer Evia Real Estate will continue to focus on executive condominiums (ECs), while scouring for good buys in the commercial real estate sector as a means of building up recurring income, its managing partner Vincent Ong said.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/evia-real-estate-to-sharpen-focus-on-ecs-commercial-real-estate

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Dented valuations amid virus spread could offer Asia M&A buys
While the grim market environment amid the Covid-19 outbreak has unnerved businesses, the economic downturn might be a good time for opportunistic buyers to come forward to pick up assets at a discount. Market watchers The Business Times spoke to said that the long-drawn economic downturn…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/dented-valuations-amid-virus-spread-could-offer-asia-ma-buys

Malls should take long-term view and give rental rebates
The passing on of property tax rebates of 15 per cent, as promised by landlords to retailers, will come too little too late to save many of Singapore’s small business operators, who have clear and present financial commitments to make good every week, if not every day (F&B outlets still waiting for promised rental rebates, March 3).
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/malls-should-take-long-term-view-and-give-rental-rebates

Property cooling measures must stay in place
On Feb 19, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat told Bloomberg TV that the Government has no plans to ease property cooling measures amid the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak which has threatened to develop into a global pandemic (What Covid-19 does to already fragile residential market, March 1).
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/property-cooling-measures-must-stay-in-place

Singapore Budget 2020

NEWSand, NEWOil part of efforts to be circular economy
The Singapore government is looking to work with the industry on the possibility of producing NEWSand on a commercial scale, as part of plans to support Singapore’s transition into a circular economy, Senior Minister of State for Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor said.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-budget-2020/newsand-newoil-part-of-efforts-to-be-circular-economy
https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/after-newater-look-out-for-newoil-newsand

ABSD: Govt to take case-by-case approach for troubled projects
In response to requests by the construction industry to consider extending the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) timeline from five years to six, Minister of State for National Development and Manpower Zaqy Mohamad on Wednesday said that the government will adopt a case-by-case approach for projects that need help, and does not think it necessary to pro-rate the ABSD penalty because “we don’t have to shift the whole mechanism or the whole system” to solve the problem.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-budget-2020/absd-govt-to-take-case-by-case-approach-for-troubled-projects
https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/help-for-construction-firms-facing-delays-due-to-virus-outbreak

Construction sector to adopt digital solutions to boost productivity
The government will set aside S$19 million until January 2023 to help small and medium enterprises defray the costs of adopting digital solutions that can help them improve construction productivity. Another S$120 million will be earmarked for public sector agencies to adopt design for manufacturing and assembly (DfMA) technologies in projects launched by 2021.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-budget-2020/construction-sector-to-adopt-digital-solutions-to-boost

Singapore targets fridges and air-cons in fight against climate change
Singapore is moving to reduce the emission of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), commonly used in refrigerants, alongside initiatives to strengthen the Republic’s coastal protection in its push to fight climate change, Minister for Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli said in Parliament.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-budget-2020/singapore-targets-fridges-and-air-cons-in-fight-against
https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/spore-to-take-steps-against-shock-waves-of-climate-change

Push for more green buildings
Given that buildings account for more than 20 per cent of Singapore’s carbon emissions, having more “green buildings” is an important part of the country’s climate change mitigation strategy. The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) will be making this push by creating a masterplan for green buildings, among other initiatives, Minister of State for National Development Zaqy Mohamad told Parliament yesterday.
https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/push-for-more-green-buildings