HDB and private property prices up in Q1 flash estimates [Archive] - Page 2 - Condo Forum Singapore Property Review Mortgage Loan Buy Rent Sell Real Estate

Unregistered

04-04-08, 15:54

HDB and private property prices up in Q1 flash estimates
Channel NewsAsia
01 April 2008 1345 hrs

Private residential property prices in Singapore rose 4.2% in the first quarter this year, according to the latest preliminary estimates from the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

The pace was slower than the 6.8% clip recorded in the fourth quarter of last year.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the biggest rise in property prices for non-landed properties came from outside central region - up 4.8% in the January-March quarter compared with the October-December period.

Properties in the prime districts of 9, 10 and 11, as well as the downtown area and Sentosa, rose 4.4% on quarter.

Prices in the rest of the central region increased 3.9% in the first quarter from the previous three months.

The preliminary estimates were based on transaction prices given in caveats lodged during the first 10 weeks of the quarter, as well as the number of new units sold.

Meantime, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) said prices of HDB resale flats rose 3.4% in the January to March period over the previous three months. This was lower than the 5.7% increase in the fourth quarter.

Both the URA and HDB will release final figures at the end of April.

The URA said that as at 4th Quarter 2007, there are about 64,900 private residential units in the pipeline, of which about 56,100 new private housing units are expected to be completed between 2008 and 2011.

There are also some 38,300 units that have yet to be put on sale by developers.

As for the supply of government flats, the HDB said it had made available in the first quarter of this year some 1,100 new flats in two Build-To-Order (BTO) projects in Punggol and Yishun.

It said that depending on demand, there could be another 5,000 new BTO flats in towns such as Punggol, Sengkang, Woodlands and Bukit Panjang.

The total planned BTO supply of 6,100 new flats for January till September 2008 will surpass the annual BTO flat supply in 2007 and 2006.

This new supply of flats will be in addition to those offered under Balloting Exercises for surplus replacement SERS and other flats, as well as the planned release of three Design-and-Build sites in Simei, Toa Payoh and Bedok with some 1,500 flats in the first half of 2008.

Alright, enough argument, gentlemen!
We have had enough discussion ever since toaler started the thread with the above message.
Let's move on to another thread.
More discussions on the way.

Unregistered

04-04-08, 16:04

[QUOTE=Unregistered]OH DEAR I MISSED OUT SELLING.....WHO CAN HELP ME?

Why keeping posting the same almost-3-week-old news again and again?
Why not post a 3-month-old or 3-year-old news?

Anyway, price increased by 4.2%. No old news can change that.

Never mind! If no buyer wants to pay the price then hold loh. Anyway, if I sell now I might never ever to buy it back again in the future. Imagine the sky high construction cost and land scarce in Singapore. I don't want to risk myself to be home less in Singapore.

My civil servant friend told me that the 100% homeownership may soon become a history in Singapore. Going forward it will be very common sight for ppl to live in rental flat for life like most ppl in HK due to the lack of affordability.

Remember, owning a house is still a big dream for many ppl in most country. Don't take thing for granted. No country can achieve the high level of homeownership like us nor any govt has to do it for you. Since the ppty prices are still within your reach, by all means grab it, before its too late.

Unregistered

04-04-08, 16:17

[QUOTE=Unregistered]

Never mind! If no buyer wants to pay the price then hold loh. Anyway, if I sell now I might never ever to buy it back again in the future. Imagine the sky high construction cost and land scarce in Singapore. I don't want to risk myself to be home less in Singapore.

My civil servant friend told me that the 100% homeownership may soon become a history in Singapore. Going forward it will be very common sight for ppl to live in rental flat for life like most ppl in HK due to the lack of affordability.

Remember, owning a house is still a big dream for many ppl in most country. Don't take thing for granted. No country can achieve the high level of homeownership like us nor any govt has to do it for you. Since the ppty prices are still within your reach, by all means grab it, before its too late.

Are you the same guy who works in Pioneer Circle?

CSR Police

04-04-08, 16:24

Are you the same guy who works in Pioneer Circle?
:****you: :asshole: :please-die:

Unregistered

04-04-08, 16:59

HDB, private apartment rentals set to rise

By Wong Siew Ying, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 03 April 2008 0050 hrs

SINGAPORE : Rentals for HDB and mass market private apartments are set to rise in the coming years, with more foreign workers heading for Singapore.

Property agents expect rents to climb by about 10 percent this year.

They say HDB flat-owners could gain from the spike in demand.

Singapore's two integrated resorts will be ready in the next two years.

Besides attracting more tourists, they are also expected to draw thousands of foreign workers to the city state.

Resorts World at Sentosa says it will be hiring 10,000 people directly.

And 40 percent of these jobs will go to foreigners, in view of the manpower crunch in Singapore.

Property agents say some of the foreign workers, especially higher-ranking staff, will have the means to purchase private residential properties.

But they expect the bulk of the workers to tap into the rental market for their housing needs. And this will push prices up in the short-term as supply plays catch up.

On average, monthly rentals for private apartments range between $2,500 and $3,500 dollars.

This may be too much for some workers.

Mohamed Ismail, CEO of PropNex, said: "The public housing becomes next best alternative where today people are still able to rent at $1,500 to $2,000. I expect this trend to continue, as far as estates that will have a greater demand ... such as those in Telok Blangah, Bukit Merah, Bishan, Toa Payoh. Anything that is not too far away from town or to the integrated resorts will definitely have greater take-up rates."

Industry players say private residential properties currently enjoy a rental yield of some 5 percent, while that of HDB flats is between 8 and 10 percent - among the highest ever in Singapore for public housing.

All in, agents expects rentals to climb by some 10 percent in the next two years. - CNA/de
Prices going up?
Rental also going up.
Huat Ah!!!!!

Reuters

04-04-08, 18:33

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Subprime spells gloom, not doom, for Asia banks
Reuters
Singapore and Tokyo, Japan
Friday, 4 April 2008

Investors may have a nervous eye on Asia after the subprime crisis tore through the United States and Europe, but while the region's banks will see losses on risky investments, they won't be facing doomsday.

Investors have punished Asian financial stocks, concerned that somewhere in the region a big bank may be at the edge of collapse. Yet lenders are unlikely to be lacerated by the losses that hit UBS, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch and others, analysts say.

Investments related to troubled United States housing loans have cost global financial institutions as much as US$215 billion (S$298 billion) as of December, but less than 7% of that has come in Asia, according to estimates by Japan's regulatory Financial Services Agency.

'They are nowhere near as embroiled as the large US and European banks,' said Mr Jason Rogers, a credit analyst at Barclays Capital in Singapore who looks at banks across Asia.

'Their exposure mainly comes through their investment portfolios, as opposed to part of their core business. They were not in the practice of slicing and dicing and underwriting the US RMBS-type products,' he said.

Mr Rogers said Mizuho Financial Group was one of the only Asian banks to attempt to arrange products such as residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS).

RMBSs and other structured instruments such as collateralised debt obligations are securities backed by a pool of loans or bonds with differing risk profiles but which plunged in value when the US housing market tanked.

Mizuho, Japan's second-largest lender, is now one of the region's biggest subprime casualties, so far reporting 345 billion yen (S$4.6 billion) in losses. Still, that's just a sliver of the US$37.4 billion written down by UBS and Merrill's US$24 billion write-down.

Mizuho expects to report a net profit of 480 billion yen for the year that ended in March. By contrast, UBS reported on Tuesday a net loss of US$12 billion for the first quarter alone.

Merrill has turned to outside assistance for capital relief, including a US$1.2 billion injection from Mizuho.

Watching exposure
Asian banks rated by Standard & Poor's have a total exposure of about US$34 billion to structured instruments, reckons Mr Ritesh Maheshwari, a credit analyst with the ratings agency.

'Considering that the total shareholder equity of these banks is nearly 10 times this amount, the likely write-downs can be easily absorbed,' Mr Maheshwari said in a note to clients.

Japan's subprime-related exposure is estimated at 1.5 trillion yen by the Financial Services Agency, less than half of what UBS has so far written down.

Yet investors remain largely unconvinced. Tokyo's banking index has fallen 30% in the last 12 months, and Singapore's index of financial stocks is off about 11%.

Both have fared worse than their broader markets.

Shares of Bank of China have fallen about 11% over the same period while the FTSE index of global banks has lost about 18%.

Bank of China, so far the hardest hit among big Chinese banks, said it held US$5 billion worth of asset-backed securities that were related to the subprime market.

A lot of investor frustration is due to poor disclosure, because Asian banks don't need to be as precise as their US rivals when revealing subprime holdings, said Ms Kristine Li, banking analyst at KBC Securities in Tokyo.

'Many banks say, 'We have this much in RMBS, but they are all triple-A rated so it's safe'. What do you say? You don't know if it's safe or not,' Ms Li said.

Just holding on
Some banks, such as Tokyo's Mizuho have been aggressive about marking down their holdings, while others, such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group are taking a wait-and-see approach, said Mr Graeme Knowd, banking analyst for CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets in Tokyo.

Mr Knowd is particularly cautious about MUFG, Japan's largest bank.

'When the problem moves from subprime to just other stuff, they have more than anyone else (in Japan),' he said, referring to an estimated 3 trillion yen parked in structured credit products outside of Japan.

And thanks to the subprime-inspired market downturn, even lenders with no direct exposure to US mortgage products are being squeezed.

Resona Holdings, Japan's fourth-largest bank, said it would miss its fourth-quarter revenue target due to worse-than-expected sales of investment trusts.

The bank, which relies heavily on its retail operations, said sales of investment trusts - products similar to mutual funds - fell about 40% in February due to poor market performance.

At a recent news conference, the bank's chairman, Mr Eiji Hosoya, might have been speaking for banks across the region when he made a glum prediction.

'The next business year will likely be even tougher.'

Unregistered

04-04-08, 19:22

Interesting analysis from Singapore expat forum. What do you guys say? Any views?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:54 pm Post subject: Singapore Property Going Down The Tubes?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I sent my buddy an e-mail asking if it was a good time to buy property in Singapore...

He's a Hong Kong based Asia property analyst for a small successful private investment bank.
He sent me this....(don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger.)

Quote:
Well...I would wait at least another 6 months to a year.

We told clients and investors to sell all Singapore holdings (property, stocks and everything else) in June 2007. We determined that prices would never, ever be higher and were predicting a 15% drop in pricing by March 2008 and 25% drop by June 2008.

Rationale was simple and not rocket science.

#1. There was no demand for housing when the boom started.
The vacancy rates on existing housing were above New York, London, Hong Kong, Tokyo and other major urban market levels. A Singapore property boom made no sense at all.

#2. Singapore GDP...nice impressive numbers. But the growth was 99% construction related. There is no economic growth when the construction boom ends and those numbers are subtracted from the total.

#3. The existing luxury housing vacancy levels in Singapore were adequate to fill the needs of Singaporeans and any possible influx of new senior executives for the next 5 years. Thus, there was no demand for executive luxury housing in the market.

#4. Value for money on Singapore property for foreign investors is not good when compared to other projected growth economies. (several factors are weighed including psf, quality of workmanship, size of economy, projected growth of economy, lifestyle and culture of the market.)

#4. The targeted future population numbers of Singapore are pie in the sky and completely without substance. Singaporeans are not having kids and the demand for jobs in Singapore will be service led lower paying jobs to supply the planned tourism developments. Non of these new inhabitants will be buying or renting condo's, especially in the high-end. And tourists visit, they don't buy or rent.

#5. Singapore is not a supply/demand driven economy. It is a small, managed economy. Thus, the property development plans were lofty, risky, and not based on future real supply/demand realities.

#6. There is a lack of real, transparent, objective information available in the Singapore market about the Singapore market. This leads to investors belief in hype and speculation rather than economic principles.

#7. Global money supplies and markets are taking a beating and will continue to take a beating. The second call on the sub prime products happens this June so more big losses are expected. This will stall or even damage the Singapore economy.

We expect distress sales in the property market to start soon. The high-end rental market is non-existent and the higher % of all unit sales were high-end investment property, speculator driven.
These buyers need "wealthy" renters to subsidize the million dollar mortgages. Most locals cannot afford the rents the market is demanding.
Surveys of multinational companies and banks have indicated that there is no boat-load of expats with a big housing allowance arriving at the Singapore port anytime soon. The new owner is now stuck with 100% of a very expensive monthly mortgage.

Here is an example of one major high-end development I'm following to prove the point. These are some very telling numbers.
600+ units launched
20+ remaining at $2,000 per square foot via the developer.
100+ units previously sold are now for sale privately less than 7 months after launch for $1,300 to $1,600 per square foot.
The reason...no rental income.
That tells me that property owners are willing to admit that market prices are down 25%+ already. Unfortunately, even at a 25% discount, there are no buyers.

Existing Singapore residents are keeping the rental market buoyant due to the fact they sold their old places and are waiting for the prices to drop...OR...waiting for their new unit to be completed. These people are relatively small in overall numbers and definitely not going to rent high end luxury units. They are driving HDB, middle priced housing rents up right now. They are also demanding 12 month leases or even less if they can get it proving that they are waiting to move or sitting on the sidelines waiting for prices to drop.

The Singapore property market is massively oversupplied today and more units are on the way. This is not good. This is should be extremely troublesome to anyone who owns property anywhere in that market. The potential valuation losses in the property market could be enormous, especially at the high-end. Overall prices could sink well below SARS levels and this could happen within 6 months to a year.

The short lived property boom was very much like a pyramid scheme.
It was all hype and no substance.
The first guys in are now smoking big cigars.
The last guys in are now left holding the ashtray.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Excellent post and thanks for this , I am cancelling my plans to buy property this year!!!!!!!

I HAVE CANCELLED MY PLANS. SOON WILL BE 40% LOWER.

Unregistered

04-04-08, 19:28

I HAVE CANCELLED MY PLANS. SOON WILL BE 40% LOWER.

[size=+2]Ok Lah this post really saved thousands of dollars for me.Hope it does for others too[size=+2]

Unregistered

04-04-08, 19:40

I HAVE CANCELLED MY PLANS. SOON WILL BE 40% LOWER.

After 40% lower, it will be lowered to another 50%

Unregistered

04-04-08, 21:33

Economy Loses 80,000 Jobs, Worse Than Expected
By Reuters | 04 Apr 2008 | 08:32 AM ET

US employers cut payrolls for a third month in a row in March, slashing 80,000 jobs for the biggest monthly job decline in five years as the economy headed into a downturn, government data on Friday showed.

The Labor Department revised the first two months of the year's job losses to a total of 52,000 from a previous estimate of 85,000. The March unemployment rate jumped to 5.1 percent from 4.8 percent, the highest since a matching rate in September 2005.

The March job report was more bleak than expected.

Economists polled ahead of the report forecast a decline of 60,000 in non-farm payrolls and a rise in the unemployment rate to 5 percent.

"It's not a good number, clearly," said David Bianco, chief US equity strategist at UBS. "But the market has been braced for a bad number. Almost every investor equity and otherwise would acknowledge that we are in a recession but we still think it is a mild recession and we are going to have pretty good profit conditions in the S&P 500 for this quarter and for the rest of the year."

During the first quarter of this year job losses averaged 77,000 a month, compared to average monthly gains of 76,000 in the last half of 2007, according to Keith Hall, Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner.

Job losses were widespread during the month, with the biggest losses in the construction and manufacturing sectors.

Unregistered

10-04-08, 12:57

HDB and private property prices up in Q1 flash estimates
Channel NewsAsia
1 April 2008 1345 hrs

Private residential property prices in Singapore rose 4.2 percent in the first quarter this year, according to the latest preliminary estimates from the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

The pace was slower than the 6.8 percent clip recorded in the fourth quarter of last year.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the biggest rise in property prices for non-landed properties came from outside central region - up 4.8 percent in the January-March quarter compared with the October-December period.

Properties in the prime districts of 9, 10 and 11, as well as the downtown area and Sentosa, rose 4.4 percent on quarter.

Prices in the rest of the central region increased 3.9 percent in the first quarter from the previous three months.

The preliminary estimates were based on transaction prices given in caveats lodged during the first 10 weeks of the quarter, as well as the number of new units sold.

Meantime, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) said prices of HDB resale flats rose 3.4 percent in the January to March period over the previous three months. This was lower than the 5.7 percent increase in the fourth quarter.

Both the URA and HDB will release final figures at the end of April.

The URA said that as at 4th Quarter 2007, there are about 64,900 private residential units in the pipeline, of which about 56,100 new private housing units are expected to be completed between 2008 and 2011.

There are also some 38,300 units that have yet to be put on sale by developers.

As for the supply of government flats, the HDB said it had made available in the first quarter of this year some 1,100 new flats in two Build-To-Order (BTO) projects in Punggol and Yishun.

It said that depending on demand, there could be another 5,000 new BTO flats in towns such as Punggol, Sengkang, Woodlands and Bukit Panjang.

The total planned BTO supply of 6,100 new flats for January till September 2008 will surpass the annual BTO flat supply in 2007 and 2006.

This new supply of flats will be in addition to those offered under Balloting Exercises for surplus replacement SERS and other flats, as well as the planned release of three Design-and-Build sites in Simei, Toa Payoh and Bedok with some 1,500 flats in the first half of 2008. - CNA/sf
Of course go up lah.
Economy is surging ahead with full employment.
Everything is good man!

Unregistered

10-04-08, 12:58

Of course go up lah.
Economy is surging ahead with full employment.
Everything is good man!
Yes only property going down down...everything else up mah.

Unregistered

10-04-08, 12:58

Of course go up lah.
Economy is surging ahead with full employment.
Everything is good man!
How do you know economy is surging ahead?
Anyhow guess right?

Anyway, many economists got it wrong but you are right.

http://www.afp.com/english/home/imgs/logo.gif
Singapore's GDP Rebounds By 16.9% In Q1
MAS moves to curb inflation as growth rebounds
Agence France-Presse
Singapore
Thursday, 10 April 2008

Singapore's central bank unexpectedly further tightened monetary policy on Thursday, pushing the Singapore dollar to a record high against the U.S. dollar, in a move aimed at keeping a lid on soaring prices.

Singapore's economy grew at an annualised, seasonally adjusted rate of 16.9% in the first quarter, beating economists' expectations, government data showed on Thursday, after a surprise 4.8% contraction in the fourth quarter of 2007.

The data beat a median forecast from economists polled by Reuters for growth of 11.5% because of a recovery in pharmaceutical and electronics manufacturing.

"The GDP figures were stronger than what the market had predicted and that gave the Monetary Authority confidence to tighten the policy," said Joseph Tan, an economist at Fortis.

"Strength of GDP quarter-on-quarter came from domestic sources. Where we go from here is a step in time approach but the one-up shift of the band, as opposed to the steepening of the Singapore dollar, shows that MAS recognises inflation is an imminent danger."

The Monetary Authority of Singapore conducts policy through the exchange rate, steering the Singapore dollar within a secret trade-weighted band against a basket of currencies, rather than by adjusting interest rates.

Growth Support

"Against backdrop of continuing external and domestic cost pressures, an upward shift of the policy band at this point will help to moderate inflation going forward, while providing support for sustainable growth in the economy," the central bank said in a twice-yearly monetary policy statement.

"MAS will therefore re-centre the exchange rate policy band at the prevailing level of the S$NEER. There will be no change to the slope or width of the policy band."

The Singapore dollar hit a record high, up 0.9% on the news to 1.3683 per U.S. dollar. The currency has gained around 5% this year.

Ten out of the 12 economists polled by Reuters had expected the MAS to refrain from tightening monetary policy due to concerns about slower economic growth.

The other two had expected the MAS to tighten policy to fight inflation, which stood at 6.5% in February. In January it hit 6.6%, the highest since March 1982.

The MAS said it expected inflation in the upper half of its 4.5% to 5.5% forecast range this year.

Singapore is one of the first Asian countries to report GDP data each quarter. The health of its exports is seen by analysts as a barometer of demand for Asian goods.

Despite concern about slower global growth, most central banks in Asia have refrained from easing monetary policy due to high inflation.

Some analysts said a stronger Singapore dollar would further cut demand for the island's exports by making them more expensive at a time when demand in the key U.S. market is weakening.

They also said a stronger Singapore dollar may not be as effective as before in reining in inflation because domestic factors such as a tight labour market, high wages and elevated property prices were factors as well.

The MAS tightened policy slightly at its last meeting in October as asset prices spiralled higher.

Singapore's economic growth is largely fuelled by manufacturing of products such as electronics, pharmaceuticals and oil rigs. However, the economy also relies increasingly on tourism, financial services and construction.

Unregistered

10-04-08, 14:37

How do you know economy is surging ahead?
Anyhow guess right?

Anyway, many economists got it wrong but you are right.
Who cares! As long there is growth. 16.9% you know?

Unregistered

10-04-08, 19:30

Who cares! As long there is growth. 16.9% you know?
Wow! So high!

Unregistered

10-04-08, 19:46

Wow! So high!
Moron read the details before jumping.

Unregistered

10-04-08, 19:46

Lehman Says It Liquidated Three Investment Funds

By Ambereen Choudhury

April 10 (Bloomberg) -- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the fourth-largest U.S. securities firm, said it liquidated three investment funds because of ``market disruptions.''

The funds' assets, valued at $1 billion on Feb. 29, were taken onto Lehman's balance sheet, the New-York-based firm said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The firm also bought ``certain deteriorated assets,'' with a value of $800 million, from other unidentified funds, Lehman said.

``The funds used the cash received from the company to either redeem investors in the funds or make alternative asset investments,'' Lehman said in the filing yesterday.

More than 45 of the world's biggest banks, including Citigroup Inc. and UBS AG, have recorded a combined $232 billion in asset writedowns and credit losses since the beginning of 2007, including reserves set aside for bad loans. Falling U.S. house prices and rising delinquencies may lead to $565 billion in residential mortgage-market losses, the International Monetary Fund said in its annual Global Financial Stability report on April 8. Total losses, including those tied to commercial real estate, may reach $945 billion, the fund said.

Lehman was little changed at $40.52 by 11:26 a.m. in Frankfurt trading, after closing at $40.54 in New York yesterday. The stock has dropped 38 percent this year.

The liquidation of the funds was reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier today.

Further Writedowns Seen

Lehman may write down $2 billion in the second quarter and will face ``difficult'' market conditions this year, according to analysts at Deutsche Bank AG.

``While liquidity seems okay, we continue to expect more writedowns to equity and tougher revenues this year,'' analysts led by New York-based Mike Mayo wrote in a research note yesterday. Deutsche Bank rates the firm ``buy.''

Revenue at Lehman will decline to about the level of 2005, when it totaled $14.6 billion, Mayo wrote. The 2007 net revenue was $19.3 billion. Lehman plans to reduce risk by selling 20 percent of its $75 billion in mortgage assets and cut leverage by the same amount, according to Deutsche Bank.

Unregistered

10-04-08, 19:51

http://www.afp.com/english/home/imgs/logo.gif
Japan current account surplus up 2.9%
Agence France-Presse
Tokyo, Japan
Thursday, 10 April 2008

Japan's current account surplus grew 2.9% in February from a year earlier, as higher income on overseas investments offset slower exports to the US, the government said on Thursday.

The nation with the world's second-largest economy had a surplus of 2.47 trillion yen (S$33.6 billion) in February in the current account, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, the finance ministry said.

The figure was in line with market expectations.

The trade balance alone fell 6.6% to 1.03 trillion yen. Exports rose 9.0% to 6.67 trillion yen, while imports increased 12.5% to 5.63 trillion yen.

Although exports to the United States have been curbed by the US economic turmoil, shipments to Europe and the rest of Asia remain robust, the government said.

The services account deficit widened to 152.0 billion yen from 84.5 billion yen from a year earlier.

The surplus in the income account increased to almost 1.68 trillion yen from 1.47 trillion yen, as firms and households enjoyed higher returns on overseas investments.

The capital and financial account, which measures international fund flows, registered an outflow of 2.62 trillion yen compared to 1.76 trillion yen a year earlier.

Historically, Japan has run a large surplus in its current account, which measures the flow of goods, services and investment income.

Although Japan's economy was seen recovering from a slump stretching back more than a decade, sluggish consumer spending and fallout from the US credit market crisis is expected to slow Asia's largest economy this year.
That's better. Keep it up!

Unregistered

10-04-08, 20:00

http://www.thomson.com/images/misc/logo_thomson.gif
Singapore's Q1 GDP growth beats forecast on strong manufacturing sector
Thomson Financial
Singapore
Thursday, 10 April 2008, 02:44 GMT

Singapore's economy expanded at a forecast-beating 7.2% in the first quarter from a year earlier, led by a double-digit rebound in manufacturing, advance estimates by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MIT) showed Thursday.

Economists polled by Thomson Financial were expecting an average 6.4% rise in the first quarter, with forecasts ranging from 5.2% to 7.8%. Growth in the fourth quarter was at 5.4%.

Seasonally adjusted, growth was much more robust at 16.9%, rebounding from the fourth quarter's 4.8% contraction, the ministry said.

"This was line with expectations of a rebound after weakness in the fourth quarter, which has been concentrated in manufacturing. They were assuming healthy manufacturing numbers in March but this does not alter the basic story [that there will be] moderation in growth in 2008," said David Cohen, chief economist at Action Economics.

The advance estimates by the ministry were based on available economic data for the first two months of the quarter.

According to the estimates, the manufacturing sector expanded by 13.2% in the first quarter from a year ago, sharply higher than the 0.2% growth in the fourth quarter, with biomedical output recovering from a slump.

"The rest of the manufacturing clusters also enjoyed a better performance in the first quarter, with the exception of the transport engineering and precision engineering clusters, where growth moderated," the government said.

Activity in the construction sector gained pace to double-digit levels but is expected to moderate from the strong fourth quarter.

The construction sector expanded by 14.6%, compared with 24.3% growth in the fourth quarter.

Growth in service industries continued to expand, led by financial services, but may have slightly moderated to 7.6% from 7.7% in the fourth quarter based on MTI's estimates.

The strong GDP numbers provided the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the city-state's de facto central bank, the leeway to tighten its foreign exchange policy to tackle soaring inflation.

The consumer price index (CPI) in Singapore was up 6.6% in January, a 25-year high, with just a slight moderation to 6.5% in February.

The MAS said on Thursday it is re-centering its policy band at the current strong level of the Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate (NEER).

"They [MAS] seem like they are pretty confident that things are holding up nicely," said Cohen.

The MAS is still predicting GDP growth this year of between 4% and 6%, although growth is expected to ease in the next few quarters, while inflation is expected to be at the upper end of the central bank's forecast range of 4.5% to 5.5%.

"The [economic] outlook is still dependent on the global picture, which remains uncertain. Everyone is still nervous about the U.S. economy and how much it will drag down global demand," said Cohen.
Cheong ah!

Unregistered

10-04-08, 20:19

Last year Spore GDP up 7.7%, property up 31%.
Q1 GDP is out this morning, up 7.2%, very closed to last year growth.

The signal is very clear, but still, not all will catch it right.

Unregistered

10-04-08, 21:54

Last year Spore GDP up 7.7%, property up 31%.
Q1 GDP is out this morning, up 7.2%, very closed to last year growth.

The signal is very clear, but still, not all will catch it right.

wow, like that compare also can, this must be a desperate speculator. Last year's price of rice half, did you eat half of last year's amount of rice now?

Unregistered

10-04-08, 21:59

Unregistered

10-04-08, 22:22

Last year Spore GDP up 7.7%, property up 31%.
Q1 GDP is out this morning, up 7.2%, very closed to last year growth.

The signal is very clear, but still, not all will catch it right.

ya, i catch the ball now. property up too much last year. haha. .

Hope that this year can still catch up with other cities, such as: Dubai, HK, Shanghai, Vietnam and many part of Asia.

Compared to Dubai which has increased by nearly 10 folds (1,000%) from 2002 to 2008, Singapore ppty prices hv truly far far left behind, despite the fact that govt has injected hundred billion dollars into infrastructure as well as the entire economy transformation. We don't want to see our govt investment fail to improve our assets value, do we?

Unregistered

10-04-08, 22:25

Hope that this year can still catch up with other cities, such as: Dubai, HK, Shanghai, Vietnam and many part of Asia.

Compared to Dubai which has increased by nearly 10 folds (1,000%) from 2002 to 2008, Singapore ppty prices hv truly far far left behind, despite the fact that govt has injected hundred billion dollars into infrastructure as well as the entire economy transformation. We don't want to see our govt investment fail to improve our assets value, do we?

If last year had increased by 31%, this year should increase by at least 40%. Or else ppl might start to question govt why their billions budget did no wonder to improve our assets value.

Unregistered

11-04-08, 00:17

Hope that this year can still catch up with other cities, such as: Dubai, HK, Shanghai, Vietnam and many part of Asia.

Compared to Dubai which has increased by nearly 10 folds (1,000%) from 2002 to 2008, Singapore ppty prices hv truly far far left behind, despite the fact that govt has injected hundred billion dollars into infrastructure as well as the entire economy transformation. We don't want to see our govt investment fail to improve our assets value, do we?
Slow and steady growth is the key. When Dubai falls 500% Singapore may fall only 50%.

Unregistered

11-04-08, 00:18

Unregistered

11-04-08, 00:22

wow, like that compare also can, this must be a desperate speculator. Last year's price of rice half, did you eat half of last year's amount of rice now?
The speculator cant eat even half of the rice this year. While his property crashed, rice doubled. He now must be wishing he invested in rice rather than property.

Unregistered

11-04-08, 00:24

Last year Spore GDP up 7.7%, property up 31%.
Q1 GDP is out this morning, up 7.2%, very closed to last year growth.

The signal is very clear, but still, not all will catch it right.
Does anyone get the smell I am getting? Its been around for a while. Fried and burning asses.....someone call the fire engine please. Speculative asses on fire.

Unregistered

11-04-08, 00:25

Unregistered

11-04-08, 03:29

Unregistered

11-04-08, 06:40

Unregistered

11-04-08, 09:03

OH MORE CONDOS VACANT

OHHHH.... So sad, I won't be able to able to stay in my condos for the next 2 years... OHHHH OHHHHH... At least my tenants are paying me 300k in rent over the 2 years... but still OHHHH OHHHH

Ohhhh yessss Tulip's 164 owners adding to the glut. Ohhhhh prices dropping faster.
Hello, you from the US. We know you got retrenched and have just gone mad. But there is no need to reply to your own message again and again.

Come here if you want. There is a lot of vacancies.

Oh! By the way, this is CONDOsingapore.com - not CONDOusa.com. We don't discuss US condos here.

Unregistered

11-04-08, 09:28

Last year Spore GDP up 7.7%, property up 31%.
Q1 GDP is out this morning, up 7.2%, very closed to last year growth.

The signal is very clear, but still, not all will catch it right.

Does anyone get the smell I am getting? Its been around for a while. Fried and burning asses.....someone call the fire engine please. Speculative asses on fire.
They are celebrating the 7.2% growth and the 4.2% increase with a BBQ.

Nice smell right? You like it?
They are roasting the sour grapes.

Unregistered

11-04-08, 09:38

They are celebrating the 7.2% growth and the 4.2% increase with a BBQ.

Nice smell right? You like it?
They are roasting the sour grapes.
Ha ha ha! Make sour wine with sour grapes?

Unregistered

11-04-08, 09:57

Ha ha ha! Make sour wine with sour grapes?
Haha they can only afford sour grapes. Oh told them not to speculate and lose everything. Can't even afford proper wine.
Ohhh the misery....

Unregistered

11-04-08, 10:05

Haha they can only afford sour grapes. Oh told them not to speculate and lose everything. Can't even afford proper wine.
Ohhh the misery....
Exactly!

Already told those sour grapes not to speculate that Q1 price index and Q1 GDP would come down. They don't listen. See what happened now? Everything is up!

They can only afford sour grapes. Ohhh poor things!

Unregistered

11-04-08, 11:00

Exactly!

Already told those sour grapes not to speculate that Q1 price index and Q1 GDP would come down. They don't listen. See what happened now? Everything is up!

They can only afford sour grapes. Ohhh poor things!
Yes, indeed, indeed.

Unregistered

12-04-08, 01:10

The poor sour grapes have very tortured souls
Very "pek chek" cannot buy enough rice to fill the bowl

Money no enough to buy condos
Oh ... queue the HDB cannot get until grow old
Buay tahan the speculators earn so much gold
Internet forums is the only way to scold
Like the economy to turn cold
Every day kena tortured by that noisy thing (see vertical in BOLD).

Unregistered

12-04-08, 01:11

GE Says Profit Fell, Citing Finance; Forecast Reduced

By Rachel Layne

April 11 (Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co. unexpectedly reported its first quarterly profit decline since 2003, sending U.S. and European stocks lower, as the credit market's seizure spread to the world's third-largest company by market value.

GE dropped as much as 12 percent in New York trading, the most since the October 1987 market crash. The decline wiped out as much as $42.2 billion in market capitalization, or more than the 2006 gross domestic product of Ecuador.

Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt cut the annual forecast he had once told investors was ``in the bag'' for 2008 and repeated as recently as March 13. GE now says capital markets seized up just days later, forcing it to cut the value of some securities in the last two weeks of the quarter and blocking some asset sales. The Federal Reserve's March 14 move to help rescue Bear Stearns Cos. created ``a different world,'' he said today.

``We hate disappointing investors,'' Immelt said on the GE- owned CNBC television network. ``It's not part of the company. It's not part of the culture. We take accountability for that.''

Profit from continuing operations dropped to $4.36 billion, or 44 cents a share, from $4.93 billion, or 48 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose 8 percent to $42.2 billion, less than GE's prediction of about $44 billion. GE was expected to earn 51 cents a share, the average of 15 analyst estimates in a Bloomberg poll.

``You're shocked'' by such results, Benjamin Pace, chief investment officer of Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management in New York, told Bloomberg Television.

Shares Plummet

The stock dropped $4.23, or 12 percent, to $32.52 at 11:25 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares had fallen less than 1 percent this year compared with a 7.3 percent decline in the Standard & Poor's 500 index.

On a conference call today, analysts demanded that Immelt explain why he told retail investors on a March 13 Webcast that Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE would likely meet its annual forecast of at least $2.42 a share.

``Two days after the Webcast, the Bear Stearns situation took place,'' Immelt said. ``The last two weeks in March were a different world in financial services.''

The market turmoil also prevented GE from selling some finance assets, Immelt said. GE put its U.S. credit card business and Japanese consumer finance units up for sale last year. The health-care unit also trailed expectations.

The U.S. may be near a recession because of a slump in housing prices and a tightening of credit markets. Some members of the Fed's rate-setting Open Market Committee said at their March 18 meeting that they saw the risk of a ``prolonged and severe downturn'' in the U.S. economy, the world's largest.

`Biggest Misses'

``This is one of the biggest misses that GE's had in quite some time,'' said Nicholas Heymann, an analyst with Sterne Agee & Leach Inc., in an interview today. ``The pressure is on like it's never been on before for all senior management at GE.''

GE missed its own forecasts for its commercial and consumer finance units. That cut per-share profit by 5 cents and resulted in a lowered full-year forecast of $2.20 to $2.30 a share, down from the previous forecast of at least $2.42. Immelt had told investors in December that $2.42 a share was ``in the bag.''

``The quarter was disappointing,'' James Hardesty, president of Hardesty Capital Management in Baltimore, told Bloomberg Television. ``It does reflect a rather sharp economic slowdown that seems to be occurring in the U.S.''

Finance units may have a profit decline of 5 percent to 10 percent this year and non-financial units will increase 10 percent to 15 percent. That makes total profit little-changed to up 5 percent, GE said in its statement.

Didn't See It Coming

``This is something that we clearly didn't see until the end of the quarter,'' Immelt said on the conference call. ``What we did is try to reflect on that, not make excuses and take appropriate actions. The company's fundamentals remain strong. We believe that the strategy and the fundamentals remain strong.''

GE Healthcare, the world's biggest maker of medical imaging equipment, had a profit decline of 17 percent, below the predicted 5 percent rise. GE hasn't shipped its OEC X-ray machines from a plant for 20 months as it works to comply with an FDA consent decree. That cost about 1 cent a share, Immelt said.

GE Infrastructure, the largest of the six main segments, has units that focus on oil and gas equipment, jet engines, locomotives, power-turbines, water-treatment and aircraft leasing. Its revenue climbed 23 percent, more than forecast, driving a 17 percent increase in earnings, which matched GE's prediction.

Downgrades

Analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Credit Suisse Group both cut GE's rating to ``neutral'' today. Fourteen analysts recommend buying the stock, and six suggest holding it. None recommend selling. Before today's earnings announcement, 16 analysts rated the stock a ``buy'' and four rated it ``hold.''

``There's probably a very good buy in here,'' Joseph Keating, chief investment officer of First American Asset Management in Birmingham, Alabama, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. His firm manages $3 billion, including GE shares. ``They have a worldwide franchise in industrial products and with the decline of the dollar, their products are competitive worldwide.''

The cost of protecting bonds of GE, the biggest U.S. corporate borrower, reached the highest in almost two weeks. Credit-default swaps on GE's General Electric Capital Corp. increased 10 basis points to 131 basis points, according to broker Phoenix Partners Group in New York. The contracts have about doubled this year as the credit-turmoil that started in the U.S. housing market led investors to flee everything from commercial paper to leveraged loans.

Investors and analysts asked Immelt to assure them that GE's ability to forecast, and strategy as a whole, remained intact and whether this surprise decline eroded GE's reputation as a safe investment.

``I understand your frustration,'' Immelt said. ``I'm not going to be defensive about it, this is a company that's delivered for a long time. The franchise of the company is very strong. And I feel the same about the strategy of the company.''
Wow what did you just say?
GE had the biggest fall since 1987? You can't be kidding. GE is all about world economy. You mean eqvivalent amount to Equador's GDP wiped out in a few minutes? Tell me you are kidding....for God's sake. I have a weak heart.

Unregistered

12-04-08, 01:15

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Nikkei ends up 2.9%, led by Retailers on Positive Outlooks
Taiga Uranaka
Reuters
Tokyo, Japan
Friday, 11 April 2008

Japan's Nikkei average rose 2.9% on Friday, snapping a three-day losing streak, with retailers Fast Retailing Co and Seven & I Holdings jumping on solid profit outlooks.

Japan's second-largest bank Mizuho Financial Group extended gains after disclosing additional subprime-related trading losses.

"Mizuho shares were bought as investors saw negative news as having run its course for the time being. The market had priced in subprime problems to a considerable degree," said Harushige Kobayashi, head of the research department at Maruwa Securities.

High-tech shares such as Advantest Corp advanced after their U.S. peers lifted Wall Street on a brokerage upgrade of chip makers.

"The previous three days' losses were caused by trades in connection with SQ. Now, with that over, the lid on the market is off," said Katsuhiko Kodama, senior strategist at Toyo Securities.

The closely watched settlement price, known in Japan as the special quotation or "SQ", is calculated from the opening prices of the 225 shares on the Nikkei average on the second Friday of the month.

The price for options contracts expiring in April is likely to have come to 13,129.58, according to market sources.

The benchmark Nikkei ended up 2.9% at 13,323.73. The index gained 0.2 percent for the week.

The broader TOPIX index added 2.5% to 1,278.62.

Retailers High

Shares of Fast Retailing jumped 5.2% to 10,100 yen, the biggest contributor to the Nikkei, after the retailer raised its full-year operating profit forecast by 10% to 80.1 billion yen on the back of a recovery at its Uniqlo casual-clothing chain.

Seven & I Holdings shot up 11.6% to 2,895 yen after Japan's largest retailer said it would buy back and cancel up to 170 billion yen of its shares and Mitsubishi UFJ Securities lifted its rating on the stock to "1" from "2", saying the shares are cheap considering an expected improvement in return on assets.

Seven & I posted its first drop in full-year operating profit in six years, hit by weak consumer spending and tough competition, but it forecast a recovery this year as it closes unprofitable outlets.

Daiei Inc jumped 13.7% to 631 yen after the supermarket operator said it expects its operating profit this business year to rise 24.6% to 18 billion yen, better than a forecast of 13.6 billion yen in a poll of three analysts by Reuters Estimates.

"Investors' buying interest is turning towards domestic, non-manufacturing sectors since they're less affected by the stronger yen," said Maruwa's Kobayashi.

Mizuho extended gains, ending up 5.2% at 407,000 yen, after the banking group said during the midday break that it expected 400 billion yen ($3.9 billion) of subprime-related trading losses at its unlisted brokerage, Mizuho Securities, for the year ended in March.

The bank said it now expects a net profit of 310 billion yen ($3.1 billion) for the year to March 2008, down nearly 60% from its original estimate of 750 billion yen.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd fell 2% to 5,300 yen, becoming the biggest drag on the Nikkei 225, after news of its $8.8 billion acquisition of U.S. biotech company Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc in the biggest overseas buyout by a Japanese drugmaker.

Technology shares gained, with Advantest, the world's largest maker of microchip testers, up 5.3% at 2,795 yen.

On Thursday, Intel Corp shares jumped and helped lift all three major U.S. stock indexes after Banc of America Securities upgraded the U.S. semiconductor sector, saying a modest inventory buildup has eased.

Trade was moderate on the Tokyo exchange's first section, with 2 billion shares changing hands, compared with last week's daily average of 1.9 billion.
The future looks bright and good.

Unregistered

12-04-08, 01:15

The future looks bright and good.
That's why surged 2% today.

http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/nws/p/reuters_logo_94.png
HK shares jumps 2% to 2-month high as Chinese banks lead way
Judy Hua
Reuters
Hong Kong SAR
Friday, 11 April 2008

Hong Kong stocks rose 2% to a 2-month closing high on Friday, tracking higher overseas markets, with financial plays leading the gains as Chinese banks flagged rosy profit forecasts.

Investors are cautious, however, as they await key economic data from China and the United States, as well as quarterly results from major U.S. financial institutions next week to gauge the outlook for the global economy.

"China's stock market is still soft and lacks momentum even though it has stablised," said KGI Asia Ltd associate director Ben Kwong. "Investors are waiting for major economic data to assess if there is further need for tightening."

"Technically, the (Hong Kong) market is quite resilient," he said, adding that he expected short-term support at 23,900.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended 480.69 points higher at 24,667.79. The China Enterprises Index of Hong Kong-listed mainland companies , or H shares, gained 2.76% to 13,357.12.

Mainboard turnover rose to HK$77.14 billion ($9.9 billion) from HK$74.81 billion.

Chinese banks jumped after they estimated sharply higher first-quarter earnings due to higher interest on consumer lending as Beijing grants lenders more flexibility in pricing loans.

China Merchants Bank closed up 4.6% at HK$29.85 after it estimated that net profit surged at least 140% in the first quarter of this year.

China Construction Bank rose nearly 2.8% as investors expect it to post strong earnings after the market close.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's largest bank and the most active stock for the day, climbed 2.8%, while smaller rival Bank of Communications soared 5%.

Another bright spot was China Coal Energy, the country's No.2 coal producer, which jumped more than 5% to HK$15.94 after Citigroup upgraded it to buy from hold as it plans to sell more coal on domestic spot market this year, which should drive margins.

Offshore oil specialist CNOOC Ltd rose 4.6% and its bigger rival PetroChina climbed 2.8% after they signed landmark deals to buy liquefied natural gas from top LNG exporter Qatar.

TPV Technology, the world's largest maker of PC monitors, jumped 4%to HK$5.24 after JP Morgan upgraded it to overweight from neutral on margin improvement and likely market share gain.

But mobile phone and electronics components maker BYD bucked the broad market trend, tumbling as much as 12% to close at HK$12.90 after its Taiwanese rival, Hon Hai Precision Industry, said BYD's vice president Xia Zuoquan had been detained.

CLSA downgraded BYD to underperform from buy, citing accelerating legal disputes between BYD and Foxconn International over alleged patent infringement. Foxconn jumped 7.3% to HK$11.70.

Kingdee International Software Group Ltd, China's second-largest designer of software, fell 11% to HK$6.84 after the company and its chairman sold up to $21.5 million worth of shares.

Unregistered

12-04-08, 01:18

URA releases flash 1st quarter 2008 private residential property price index

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released today the flash estimate of the price index of private residential property for 1st Quarter 2008.

Based on the estimated price index of private residential property, prices rose from 170.8 points in the 4th Quarter 2007 to 178 points in the 1st Quarter 2008. This represents an increase of 4.2%, compared with the 6.8% increase in the previous quarter (see Annex A (http://www.ura.gov.sg/pr/graphics/2008/pr08-35a.pdf)).

URA also released today the flash estimates of the price changes in the 3 geographical regions for 1st Quarter 2008. Prices of non-landed private residential properties increased by 4.4% in Core Central Region, 3.9% in Rest of Central Region and 4.8% in Outside Central Region in the quarter (see Annex B (http://www.ura.gov.sg/pr/graphics/2008/pr08-35b.pdf)). In comparison, for 4th Quarter 2007, prices of non-landed private residential properties increased by 7.5% in Core Central Region, 7.7% in Rest of Central Region and 7.0% in Outside Central Region.

The flash estimates are compiled based on transaction prices given in caveats lodged during the first ten weeks of the quarter supplemented by information on the number of new units sold. The statistics will be updated 4 weeks later when URA releases the full 1st Quarter 2008 real estate statistics, when more data on the caveats lodged and the take-up of new projects are captured. Past data have shown that the difference between the quarterly price changes indicated by the flash estimate and the actual price changes could be significant when the change is small. The public is advised to interpret the flash estimates with caution.

The Government will continue to monitor prices closely and release relevant price sensitive information in a timely manner. On the supply side, as at 4th Quarter 2007, there are about 64,900 private residential units in the pipeline, of which about 56,100 new private housing units are expected to be completed between 2008 and 2011. About 38,300 units of the supply in the pipeline (or 59%) have not been sold by developers yet. Prospective home-buyers are advised to take into consideration the ample pipeline supply of private housing when making decisions on property purchase.
These are the real facts and figures.

Unregistered

12-04-08, 01:20

http://www.zaobao.com//images1/zblogo.gif
中国一游客用银联卡一天在本地消费60万元 ($600,000)
联合早报
2008-04-11

人民币不断升值，鼓励越来越多中国旅客出境旅游。接受银联卡消费，将成为本地商家提升业绩的“润滑剂”。中国银联人士透露，有中国游客一天内在新加坡用多张银联卡消费了60万新元(S$600,000)！

中国银联国际业务总部副总裁黄兴海昨天在第13届卡和付费亚洲峰会（Cards & Payments Asia）指出，人民币缓慢增值的趋势，意味着人民币越来越值钱，也促进中国居民出境旅游和消费。“我认为这完全是好现象，因为中国旅客带来的商机很大，对新加坡旅游业、银行、商户都是好事情。”

尽管没有具体数据能说明自“破八”（跌破一美元兑八元人民币心理关卡）以来，人民币升值在多大程度上使银联卡业务受惠，黄兴海承认，中国银联是人民币升值的受益者，“对我们肯定有利”。

香港、澳门、新加坡是中国旅客的主要旅游地，这些以华人为主的城市对银联卡的接受度要高于欧美城市。目前，每年到访新加坡的中国旅客都超过100万人次，是新加坡第二大外国旅客来源，每年消费额超过18亿新元。根据保守估计，未来十年中国旅客出境旅游人数，每年将以10.4％速度增长。

中国银联自2005年1月开始，与星网电子付款公司（NETS）成为合作伙伴，目前本地星展银行、大华银行及花旗银行的自动提款机，都接受银联卡提款交易，覆盖率近100％。

中国银联新加坡代表处首席代表杨建民说，过去，中国游客经常随身携带大量现金，在外国匪徒眼里是“流动提款机”，经常遭抢劫。使用银联卡，既方便又安全。

中国银联新加坡高级市场代表刘裕德指出，中国政府规定出境不能携带超过两万元人民币或6000美元的现金，而信用卡又有消费额度限制。

“银联卡提供另一种消费渠道。如果商户不接受银联卡，顾客走进他们商铺的消费能力，就取决于身上的现金有多少；如果可以使用银联卡，他们的消费能力就无限扩大。比如，一名顾客要买一件昂贵的商品，只要一通电话让亲友把钱存入他的银行账户，马上就可以转账。”

杨建民透露，去年到访新加坡的中国旅客比前年增加了9万人次，但通过银联卡消费的业绩却上升了近80％。该公司的消费记录显示，曾有一名中国旅客刷银联卡，买走了一只价值20万新元的名贵手表。“还有人通过两、三张银联卡，一天之内就在乌节路上多家商场消费了60万元。”

中国银联成立于2002年3月，总部设在上海，是全中国统一的银行卡跨行交易清算系统。截至2007年底，中国境内发卡机构有150多家，发卡总量超15亿张，同时在中国旅客常去的26个国家和地区获得接纳。

... China RMB getting very very strong ... Chinese getting very very rich
... Singapore getting very cheap ... Singapore goods are very reliable
... so record number of Chinese tourists come to Singapore

... they keep buying things like there is no tomorrow ...
... tourism receipts from Chinese tourist is at record high ...

... one Chinese tourist spent S$600,000 in one day ...
They are here to buy buy buy.
We have better buy buy buy before they try try try.

Unregistered

12-04-08, 02:45

OHHHH.... So sad, I won't be able to able to stay in my condos for the next 2 years... OHHHH OHHHHH... At least my tenants are paying me 300k in rent over the 2 years... but still OHHHH OHHHH

Ohhhh yessss Tulip's 164 owners adding to the glut. Ohhhhh prices dropping faster.

Nonsense! What "adding to the glut"?

Tulip Garden didn't en bloc is good news.

If Tulip Garden en bloc then the 164 units double into 328 units, then got glut.

Now the en blocs are on hold, that's good news because fewer units coming up in the future.

Plus increasing number of foreign talents coming to Singapore, my rental can stay high.

Teach you all a secret. No need to work also can earn money.

Borrow from the bank at 3%, tenant out at 5%. Keep the 2%.

The bank is giving me money!

I collect about $80,000 p.a. in rentals from my 3 properties (OK lah I'm exposed, my properties are mass market type not the high-end condo). I pay the bank about $50,000 p.a. in interest. So I earn $30,000 p.a. extra income. Not bad lah.

toaler

13-04-08, 00:12

Nonsense! What "adding to the glut"?

Tulip Garden didn't en bloc is good news.

If Tulip Garden en bloc then the 164 units double into 328 units, then got glut.

Now the en blocs are on hold, that's good news because fewer units coming up in the future.

Plus increasing number of foreign talents coming to Singapore, my rental can stay high.

Teach you all a secret. No need to work also can earn money.

Borrow from the bank at 3%, tenant out at 5%. Keep the 2%.

The bank is giving me money!

I collect about $80,000 p.a. in rentals from my 3 properties (OK lah I'm exposed, my properties are mass market type not the high-end condo). I pay the bank about $50,000 p.a. in interest. So I earn $30,000 p.a. extra income. Not bad lah.

woah you are one investor with high risk profile

jlrx

13-04-08, 03:34

Testing ... testing ... :scared-5:

How come this condosingapore forum cannot post using unregistered anymore? :doh:

Now must use my nick to post ...

Is it true? :p

jsh

13-04-08, 07:46

Testing ... testing ... :scared-5:

How come this condosingapore forum cannot post using unregistered anymore? :doh:

Now must use my nick to post ...

Is it true? :p

I think so. I believe this will be very good for this forum. I just tried to reply but was directed to log in first otherwise cannot post.

Hopefully this will lead to more responsible & less vulgar words.

3 Cheers to the moderators of this forum for taking this step.

jlrx

13-04-08, 22:28

I think so. I believe this will be very good for this forum. I just tried to reply but was directed to log in first otherwise cannot post.

Hopefully this will lead to more responsible & less vulgar words.

3 Cheers to the moderators of this forum for taking this step.

But the forum ended up becoming very quiet. No more squabbling.

Then let me get the ball rolling ...

Erm ... since this topic is about "HDB and private property prices up in Q1 flash estimates".

I feel that the HDB and mass market prices will continue to be very strong. Not so sure about the high-end condo, which may soften.

HDB and mass market are supported by the Government (HDB). Nowdays HDB flats are only Built-To-Order (BTO), which means that there will not be anymore oversupply. In fact, demand will always exceed supply otherwise the HDB will not even start building.

Hence I believe HDB prices will continue to rise, and that will push up the mass market condos, because some people will feel that rather than waiting for 3 years or buying a resale flat, they may as well buy a mass market condo.

Furthermore, a lot of people in this income bracket are quite safe from sub-prime, e.g. school teachers, policemen, civil servants.

I think the developers should also follow the HDB's footsteps and implement Built-To-Order (BTO). Only when there is an adequate number of applicants applying for a particular condo, then the developer will start building.

This will ensure that there is no oversupply situation.

Teana

14-04-08, 09:23

A new beginning for CONDOsingapore.com.

James Tan

16-04-08, 10:27

But the forum ended up becoming very quiet. No more squabbling.

Then let me get the ball rolling ...

Erm ... since this topic is about "HDB and private property prices up in Q1 flash estimates".

I feel that the HDB and mass market prices will continue to be very strong. Not so sure about the high-end condo, which may soften.

HDB and mass market are supported by the Government (HDB). Nowdays HDB flats are only Built-To-Order (BTO), which means that there will not be anymore oversupply. In fact, demand will always exceed supply otherwise the HDB will not even start building.

Hence I believe HDB prices will continue to rise, and that will push up the mass market condos, because some people will feel that rather than waiting for 3 years or buying a resale flat, they may as well buy a mass market condo.

Furthermore, a lot of people in this income bracket are quite safe from sub-prime, e.g. school teachers, policemen, civil servants.

I think the developers should also follow the HDB's footsteps and implement Built-To-Order (BTO). Only when there is an adequate number of applicants applying for a particular condo, then the developer will start building.

This will ensure that there is no oversupply situation.

Yes, three more cheers to CONDOsingapore; the website now is more hygienic without those swear words.:cheers6: :cheers6: :cheers6:

HDB has obviously learnt a lesson with their surplus of some 17,000 flats during the last property downturn.

Perhaps the private housing developers should also consider a similar BTO programme to help stabilise housing prices, otherwise real estate becomes another casino, certainly not good for the genuine home owners, particularly retirees who cannot afford the wide and wild swing.

Heard that a group of investors is looking into such a BTO project. Anyone has any information? Thanks