Of course any changes in external environment will change all the above.[/quote]
You mean accelerate all of the above
Newbie
Of course any changes in external environment will change all the above.[/quote]
You mean accelerate all of the above
Senior
Not evident that prices are coming off from capitaland's latest bid for the plot in bishan.
Junior
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori...240124/1/.html
Businessman strangled son before committing suicide: Coroner's Court
Channel News Asia
By Alvina Soh | Posted: 29 November 2012 1732 hrs
SINGAPORE: A businessman, who was saddled with debts of a million dollars, strangled his 19-year-old handicapped son and leapt to his death.
A coroner's inquiry found that 55-year-old Shariffuddin Abdul Kader strangled his son with a raffia string in a room in Copthorne Orchid Hotel on September 25 in 2010.
His son, Shah Amin, had a condition known as Global Development Delay, which affected his intellectual and physical abilities.
Mr Shariffudin left a note confessing that he had killed his son.
Investigations revealed that there were no signs of violence or struggle.
Mr Shariffudin then left the hotel and drove to Marsiling Drive.
He went to a staircase landing between the 12th and 13th storeys of a block of flats and jumped off.
An autopsy report by Singapore General Hospital found that Mr Shariffudin died from multiple injuries due to a fall from a height.
The court heard that he had never mentioned suicide or thoughts of ending his son's life.
But according to Mr Shariffudin's wife, he could have carried out the act as he did not want to burden her with their son's high medical costs.
A close friend said Mr Shariffudin's business was not doing well and that he was unable to pay the salaries of his staff.
- CNA/de
Junior
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori...240238/1/.html
US fiscal cliff talks stall as both sides dig in
Channel News Asia
Posted: 30 November 2012 0617 hrs
WASHINGTON: US Democrats and Republicans bickered on Thursday over whether to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, as crunch negotiations on avoiding the so-called fiscal cliff stalled.
Republican speaker John Boehner met Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, after a Wednesday phone call with President Barack Obama, but warned there had been "no substantive progress" in averting drastic tax hikes and spending cuts.
"I've got to tell you that I'm disappointed in where we are and disappointed in what's happened over the last couple of weeks," he said, urging the White House to "get serious" about cutting federal spending, including entitlements.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, shot back that Democrats have seen no "serious offer" from Republicans, who oppose raising tax rates and are divided about a quick agreement on keeping taxes low for middle-income families.
Taxes are to rise on most American households by about $2,200 and automatic spending cuts will kick in on the first day of 2013 if lawmakers do not pass legislation that lowers the ballooning deficit, the White House estimates.
There is broad agreement that Bush-era tax cuts should remain for everyone making less than $250,000 per year but, while Obama's Democrats want the cuts to expire for the wealthiest two percent, Republicans oppose such tax hikes.
Democrats pushed through legislation in the Senate that would let the top tax rate rise from 35 percent to 39.6 percent while keeping middle-class rates unchanged, and have urged the Republican-controlled House to pass the bill.
Boehner has refused to bring it to the floor, despite some calls from within his party.
Congressman Tom Cole made waves when he broke ranks recently to urge fellow Republicans to extend the middle-class tax cuts and thrash out a deal on top earners next year.
Obama dispatched Geithner to Capitol Hill to meet with congressional leaders but the move failed, at least publicly, to move the ball forward.
"No substantive progress has been made in the talks between the White House and the House over the last two weeks," Boehner told reporters.
If no deal is reached before year-end, a $500-billion poison pill of tax hikes and massive spending cuts, including slashes to the military, comes into effect, with the potential to pitch the US economy back towards recession.
White House spokesman Jay Carney insisted there had been some "progress" towards the idea that a balanced plan to cut the deficit must include extra revenues, but that the income tax rates remained a problem.
He said Republicans "have yet to accept the essential fact that in order to achieve the kinds of revenue that are necessary for a ... balanced plan, rates on the top two percent, the wealthiest earners in this country, are going up.
"They have to go up. The president will not sign any legislation that extends the Bush-era tax cuts for the top earners in this country."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, after his own Geithner meeting, said the White House "took a step backward, moving away from consensus and significantly closer to the cliff."
Republicans, he said, were willing to "move out of our comfort zones" and consider increasing revenues in order to reach a deal, but the White House "continues to fail to show the leadership necessary to get an agreement."
Boehner and McConnell met with Obama, Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi after the president's November 6 re-election and, while the mood coming out of that meeting was one of confidence, Thursday's was markedly different.
"Listen, this is not a game. Jobs are on the line, the American economy is on the line, and this is a moment for adult leadership," Boehner said.
Boehner described his meeting with Geithner as "frank and direct," but said it did not yield any "specific plan for cutting spending."
"It's time for the president, and congressional Democrats, to tell the American people what spending cuts they're really willing to make."
Reid sounded exasperated when told of Boehner's comment that the ball was effectively in the White House's court.
"I don't understand his brain," Reid said.
"Democrats are all on the same page," he added. "For two weeks we have been waiting for a serious offer from Republicans."
Lawmakers last year agreed to slash spending by $1 trillion over 10 years.
They also sought to identify an additional $1.2 trillion in savings by January 2013, with the provision that automatic spending cuts kick in if they are unable to agree on how to lower the deficit.
-AFP/ac
Junior
http://www.cnbc.com/id/50007501
BoE Warns UK Banks May Lack Enough Capital
Published: Thursday, 29 Nov 2012 | 7:47 AM ET
By: Reuters
British banks may not have enough capital set aside as a defense against future financial market dangers due to their over-optimistic assessment of the risks facing them, the Bank of England said on Thursday.
The BoE's Financial Policy Committee, which from next year will take charge of British bank regulation, urged the current regulator to reassess whether banks' capital properly reflects the risk of loans going sour and future fines for misconduct.
Banks' true capital position was probably worse than relatively healthy official numbers imply, and that this is hurting investor confidence, the BoE said.
"Progress by banks in raising capital has slowed and investor confidence remains low," the BoE said in its half-yearly Financial Stability Report.
"Market concerns are likely to reflect in part uncertainty about bank capital adequacy."
The FPC has repeatedly urged British banks to raise capital levels, and November's report marks a stepping up of these recommendations, despite a slight reduction in the risks facing the financial system due to an easing in euro zone tensions.
"UK banks' capital buffers, available to cushion losses and maintain the supply of credit following realization of a stress scenario, are not as great as headline regulatory capital ratios imply," it said.
Information from supervisors suggested some British banks would suffer bigger losses on loans than they had made provision for, it said.
Banks had also persistently underestimated the scale of fines they would face for past misconduct.
"In 2012, the number of identified conduct issues has grown and it seems likely banks could face additional sizeable costs," it said, adding that external analysts had suggested further costs of 4-10 billion pounds for mis-sold payment protection insurance and the LIBOR rate-rigging scandal.
The system of risk weighting that banks use to judge how likely they were to face losses was also "complex and opaque" and probably undermined investor confidence, the BoE added.
The BoE is also concerned that banks continue to lend to British businesses and households at a time when it blames a lack of bank credit as part of the reason for the country's very sluggish growth.
Inadequate capital buffers are not an excuse for reining back on lending, the central bank said.
"The Financial Services Authority should ensure that firms either raise capital or take steps to restructure their business and balance sheets in ways that do not hinder lending to the real economy," it said.
Junior
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-1...s-deepens.html
Germany Seen Recession-Bound in Poll Showing Euro Crisis Deepens
Bloomberg.com
By Simon Kennedy - Nov 30, 2012 9:00 AM GMT+0800
Germany, Europe’s largest economy, will be tipped into recession as the sovereign debt crisis roiling its neighbors extends into the new year, according to the latest Bloomberg Global Poll.
Even as European leaders laud their latest fix for Greece’s debt woes, 53 percent of 862 investors, analysts and traders who are Bloomberg subscribers said this week they think Germany’s economy will drop into a recession for the first time in more than three years. Sixty-four percent expect Europe’s debt turmoil to deepen again despite recent signs of calming in its financial markets.
A slump in the German economy would remove a rare engine of demand for the rest of the continent, probably extending the euro-area-wide recession which was confirmed last quarter. A contraction would also pose a challenge for Chancellor Angela Merkel who is seeking a third term in elections next year amid domestic disquiet with three years of supporting Europe’s debt-lashed governments.
“Germany is starting to feel some pressure as sentiment in the euro-zone weighs on its economy,” said Chanoine Webb, a poll participant and global investment analyst at Close Brothers Asset Management Ltd. in London. “It won’t be able to decouple for much longer.”
Germany may soon have to agree to more aid as 83 percent of survey participants said Spain will need a bailout within the next year, about the same as in September. Italy won’t need a rescue, according to 64 percent.
Junior
http://sbr.com.sg/economy/news/these...gapore-in-2013
Singapore Business Review
ECONOMY | Staff Reporter, Singapore
Published: 30 Nov 2012
These economic problems will nag Singapore in 2013
Not a very pretty picture.
According to CIMB, Singapore faces domestic challenges that are different from the west.
Here's more from CIMB:
It is not about the need for austerity, nor the process of deleveraging.
It is about inflation and cost pressures. Local liquidity is abundant. Negative domestic real rates have caused bubbly property prices; they are not the sole culprit.
The bees of global liquidity have zeroed-in on assets in Singapore’s honey pot, amid: 1) never-ending QEs in the developed world; 2) an ever-strengthening S$; and 3) its gold-plated AAA-sovereign rating.
Compounding its asset-inflationary pressures are spiralling labour costs from its current restructuring initiatives.
Unemployment rates remain low and efforts to wean the country off its dependence on cheap foreign labour are causing obvious pain. Labour constraints will likely hurt corporate earnings now and hurt GDP growth further ahead via less foreign direct investments.
What are 2013’s big risks? Our recommendation to step out of the comfort zone is clearly at risk if Europe falls apart or if rising protectionism, nationalism and uncontrollable social unrest is triggered as a backlash to austerity.
If these do not materialise, the more likely outcome in 1H13 is weak global growth (possibly, a technical recession in Singapore), more money-printing in the western world and an eventual threat of inflation or rather, stagflation.
In such an environment, NAV plays should serve investors well. Companies will have to manage rising business costs and earnings risks are still on the downside.
Sold-down cyclicals might start to perform as liquidity overflow and earnings disappointments taper off. Lastly, no one is expecting interest rates to rise but if they somehow do, the over-owned REIT sector stands at risk.
Music of the night
obviously money is flowing into HK / SG ...
Ride at your own risk !!!
Junior
That's why we can see.. after the announcement of QE3 in Oct.. lots of record breaking price/psf in the month of Nov transaction..Originally Posted by phantom_opera
And we should be expected more record breaking in the coming months
Junior
HK property market, after the introduction of ABSD been down for these two weeks for about 1.7%
However, the commercial properties is selling superb hot
皇廷廣場高層拆售旋即4500萬摸出
九龍東商廈備受市場熱捧，區內商廈拆售個案大增，當中以觀塘皇廷廣場拆售情況最為活躍。有投資者於上月購入該廈高層全層單位後，隨即以確認人身份形式將逾萬呎樓面分拆為10伙推出市場放售，當中4個單位迅即獲買家承接，涉及金額逾4500萬元，物業月內至少升值約1成。
中原(工商舖)寫字樓表示，是次分拆出售的高層樓面摸出的單位分別為B及C室，建築面積合共2857平方呎，平均呎價約9500元，買家為港島區用家；而另外D及E室的建築面積則共約1932方呎，以每呎約9400元摸出，單位同樣擁海景景致。
該行指出，原業主為投資者，於上月斥資約1.08億元購入該層全層，當時每呎造價約8500元，有感市場對九龍東商廈需求不斷增加，加上拆售單位後入場門檻降低，可吸引更多準買家承接，加快易手速度，遂決定將全層逾萬呎樓面分拆為10個單位出售，而今番成功摸售的4個單位，其呎價更於月內至少升值約10%。
Junior
Say to hear that..
He shouldn't have had listened to MR B when Luxus Hills was 1.6-mio..
If he had bought it that time.. now easily sell at 2.8-mio and settled his problem..
And also won't end up desperately doing copy & paste with "all sorts" of bad news in this pty forum cos is too late lor..
Senior
Can just declare bankrupt. Not sure why so drastic actions.
Senior
becos of pride ??
many years ago i was at a condo bbq .... next pit was a malay family hosting a group of chinese ... what looked like his company employees...
i cud tell he was the boss ....
not many malay live in condo ...let alone owning a company employing chinese ...
Senior
Y so concern abt race?
Senior
no i am not concerned abt race
i am just guessing like u asked ... he cud hv declared bankrupt ..no need to take lives ...
i am guessing it cud be due to pride ... after all for him to own a company is a great deal ...
Newbie
I don't believe I am reading this, is somebody's misfortune a joke to you?
So how rich are you now huh? You made a lot of money from properties? Even if you damn rich does that mean you can make fun of people's death like that?
I really feel sorry for you. This is human nature at its worst.
Say to hear that..
He shouldn't have had listened to MR B when Luxus Hills was 1.6-mio..
If he had bought it that time.. now easily sell at 2.8-mio and settled his problem..
And also won't end up desperately doing copy & paste with "all sorts" of bad news in this pty forum cos is too late lor..
Junior
Ya! I also feel sorry for you.. This is human nature at its worst..
Senior
Ya! I also feel sorry for you.. This is human nature at its worst..
are you suggesting Paulder = basic ?
Office Boy
The root of the problem here is Seletar or Ah B!
Why post this kinda commit suicide link in this thread ?
What is he trying to say ?
He should remove that post and ALL those not relevant.
Or we should petition to remove this person.
OR best still, this irrelevant, wrongful, misleading thread should be archived, can read cannot post.
DKSG
Senior
I concur. That piece of news of of absolutely no relevance.
Office Boy
He is always posting all these irrelevant stuff. There is only one common thing amongst these posts --> to scare people. Just because the outright threatening of people's family, etc is now not tolerated, he has to change strategy and post these rubbish.
Thats why rsyk is right to expose him...
DKSG
Junior
That's the aim by MR B of trying to achieve his "pty price will down >50% by 2015".. regardless whether is disrespectful to the victim of the irrelevance news..
Junior
Bank lending for housing loans have risen to $147.4 billion (61% of GDP). This $147.4 billion does not include housing loans issued by HDB / CPF. If CPF housing loans are included, total housing loans in Singapore is over 100% of GDP.
Bank lending to businesses is $278.1 billion (116% of GDP). Total bank lending is $479.4 billion (200% of GDP).
Both businesses and consumers in Singapore are very highly leveraged, should the economy continue to deteriorate into recession or if interest rates increase, many will struggle to pay their loans and defaults. And many more debt tragedies will occur, most of which will not be published in the news.
This is also MAS warning published 3 days ago about debt. This is very real, banks are merciless in collecting debt and many tragedies have befallen people that are highly leveraged in past recessions.
http://www.todayonline.com/Business/...ises-to-S$479b
Bank lending rises to S$479b
TODAYonline
04:45 AM Dec 01, 2012
SINGAPORE - Total bank lending in Singapore rose 1.5 per cent in October from September, according to data published yesterday by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
Loans and advances, including bills financing by the domestic banking units in Singapore, hit S$479.4 billion as at the end of October, up from S$472.3 billion in September. The month-on-month percentage gain was more than twice the 0.7-per-cent growth in September. From a year ago, October bank lending rose 17.9 per cent, topping September's 16.5-per-cent gain.
Lending to businesses rose 1.3 per cent in October from September to S$278 billion, while loans to consumers increased 1.8 per cent to S$201.4 billion.
In the closely-watched mortgage segment, housing loans to consumers grew 1.6 per cent to S$147.4 billion in October, while credit card lending was stable at S$8.5 billion. AGENCIES
Junior
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori...240339/1/.html
Eurozone jobless rate climbs to record 11.7% in October
Channel News Asia
Posted: 30 November 2012 1818 hrs
BRUSSELS: Unemployment in the eurozone hit a record high in October with more than 170,000 more jobs lost as the debt crisis continued to undermine an economy slumping into recession, official data showed on Friday.
The 17-state eurozone had a jobless rate of 11.7 per cent in October, up from 11.6 per cent in September, with the numbers out of work rising to 18.7 million from 18.49 million, the Eurostat data agency said.
The picture was particularly bleak for under 25-year-olds, with year-on-year figures showing almost one in four out of work both in the 17-nation eurozone and 27-nation European Union.
The highest unemployment rate was recorded again in Spain, where 26.2 per cent of adults are out of work, with Austria again posting the lowest rate of 4.3 per cent and benchmark Germany and the Netherlands at 5.4 per cent and 5.5 per cent respectively.
Across the 27-state European Union single market of half a billion consumers, 25.92 million men and women were out of work.
In Italy, unemployment rate rose to a new record of 11.1 per cent in October, initial data published by the national statistics office ISTAT showed on Friday, as recession grips the economy.
The rate was 0.3 percentage points higher than in September, ISTAT said, and the highest level recorded since it began publishing monthly data in January 2004, as well as being 2.3 percentage points higher than in October 2011.
The figure was worse than expected, with analysts from Intesa Sanpaolo bank saying they had been expecting the unemployment rate to rise to 10.9 percent.
"The outlook for the labour market remains negative. The unemployment rate could continue to rise until spring 2013," they said in a research note.
Seasonally adjusted data showed that the number of people looking for a job rose to 2.9 million in October -- a 3.3 percentage point increase from September and a massive 28.9 percentage point rise from October 2011.
Among young people aged between 15 and 24, the unemployment rate rose to 36.5 percent in October -- a 0.6-point increase from September and 5.8 points higher than in October 2011.
Unemployment has risen sharply in Italy since the summer of last year when the economy began contracting under pressure from a series of austerity measures aimed at reassuring the financial markets.
The government is hoping a recovery will begin in 2013.
- AFP/fa
Music of the night
during the Spanish boom years, one year can build 800k homes ... price up 13% pa ... Singapore property is no where in bubble territory ...
Ride at your own risk !!!
Junior
Developers getting worried that they cannot sell their inventory and have been whining to the Govt and indirectly blaming the Govt instead of themselves for the high land prices. Who ask them to bid so high ? These developers behave like the Govt and citizens of Singapore owe them revenues and profits. If they cannot handle the competition for land, then get lost or close down.
These developers are really shameless and despicable. They say they are not "charities" to cosumers and continue selling at ridiculous prices even when sales have drop significantly, yet they go whining to the Govt to be charitable to them. If these developers really want to attract demand, then lower the prices to attract demand instead of whining to the Govt for help. Singapore is not a charity to developers.
Read recently that instead of lowering prices to attractive levels, developers rather pay more tax to extend the selling period. This tells me that the tax is not high enough, I really hope the Govt increase taxes on these developers to discourage them from speculating with their inventory for higher prices. Use the higher taxes on developers to lower healthcare or housing prices for the poor.
http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore...-market--REDAS
With higher land prices, private homes may no longer be "mass market": REDAS
TODAYonline
Updated 12:21 AM Dec 01, 2012
SINGAPORE - Property developers expect land prices for private homes in Singapore to scale higher, which may add to their woes as they are faced with increasing development costs and rising unsold units.
Soon, all private homes in Singapore can no longer be called "mass market" developments, said Mr Wong Heang Fine, the President of the Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore (REDAS), and developers have no choice but to participate in land bids although it is highly competitive.
Speaking at the association's anniversary dinner on Friday night, Mr Wong added that this causes a vicious cycle of rising land costs. The Association will work with the Government to keep land costs in check and he hopes it would keep the rise in property prices moderate.
Mr Wong also reiterated a point he made in a speech in September, when he urged policy makers not to tighten the demand tap any further as several rounds of cooling measures have been implemented to rein in rising prices both for Housing Board and private residential units.
"While we share the Government's intention to foster a stable and sustainable property market, these measures penalise the private sector which makes up only 20 per cent of the housing market," said Mr Wong. "As a result, private developers who have consistently built quality homes to address the aspirational needs of buyers and investors who wish to make Singapore their home, are burdened with not only persistent high development costs and taxation, but are also under increasing strain from rising inventories."
Noting that over 90 per cent of Singaporeans are homeowners, Mr Wong said that sharp falls in property prices will have undesirable consequences on the value of existing homes. "Therefore, REDAS share Minister's views that we should all help to ensure a soft landing as the residential market undergoes the current transition," he added.
Mr Wong said: "We are in an unusual time - an environment of high global liquidity and low interest rates. With the slew of recent cooling measures, we now have a safety valve to moderate the market. We would like to suggest to policy makers not to "tighten the demand tap" any further but allow recent measures to work through its course. We do not want a situation when people look back and say we overdid in our policy measures."
He felt that the time is "ripe for a genuine debate, a re-think about a "balanced" housing policy menu - one which offers affordable public housing for the majority while ensuring that the private sector continues to play an important role in the high quality built environment that Singapore enjoys today.
As part of the ongoing National Conversation, REDAS has initiated a series of conversations with its members, and will submit a paper to reflect the challenges of property development and how Singapore would like in 2030. CHANNEL NEWASIA
Leeds
At least these developers agreed with Mr KBW and hope for a soft landing in the property market.
Junior
Seletar, you should target your anger elsewhere, not developers.
Wong is right. Private developers ONLY operate for the 20% of the housing market, and are being hit the most by gov measures. It is the Gov's mistake in the last 10yrs that resulted in such shortage of supply in housing, and now private companies had to bear the most burden. Look at the situation now, private developers are being robbed of a free market, subjected to draconian gov tax and arbitrary restrictions. I still remember right after CDL bought that redhill plot, gov announced ABSD and loan restriction. If I were running CDL, I would have returned the plot to gov ! It is changing the rule after the game has started isn't it ?
Seletar what is your real complaint ? To get the gov punish the developers hard enough such that you can buy a private condo of your choice ? Do you also wish the gov can simply abolish COE such that you can buy a car at 30k ? Private housing was, and should be, meant for the top 20% of the market, not every one who has a dream. Massive liquidity resulted in lots of cash around. Every one is finding someway to deal with it. You are not thhe only one with a few hundred k cash at hand.
80% of the property are supplied by the government, prices controlled by the government. The only CM dearly needed is in that segment.
I support the CM on LTVs. That is to protect the financial system and our banks. But things like ABSD severely distorts the free market system.
Dun forget, CDL, UOL, FEO, etc are also legitimate companies running an honest business, employing thousands of Singaporeans. We are diff from HK, where developers truly cornered the market and manipulated the housing prices. Here, the biggest developer is HDB.
Last edited by amk; 01-12-12 at 19:25.
Newbie
And people who own shares in CDL, Capitaland, UOL are being punished.
Leeds
Rationale Behind
On the introduction of ABSD, the government rationalised its move on an economic basis. In an accompanying statement, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam pointed out that investment flows into the local property market are “now larger than before” and that the trend is “unlikely to recede as long as interest rates remain low”. He added that the ABSD would “cool investment demand and avoid the prospect of a major, destabilising correction further down the road”.
This is a valid argument as a housing market that runs ahead of its fundamentals could grow into a property bubble and potentially plunge a nation into economic distress. One only has to recall the 2008 Irish financial crisis, where low interest rates fuelled a property bubble. When the rise in property prices proved unsustainable, the over-exposed Irish banking system came under severe pressure and collapsed in the face of the then global financial crisis, paving way for a dishonourable sovereign bailout.
Another reason behind the introduction of ABSD is to address the electorate’s concern on foreigners. In the May 2011 General Election, one message that struck a resonating chord was the increasing competition from the influx of foreigners. Thereafter, the government pledged to adopt a “Singaporean First” policy and rolled out various measures such as raising the levies of foreign workers on corporations. With that in mind, the ABSD is an effort to rein in the continued rising private residential prices in hope of bringing them back within the reach of Singaporeans.
Indeed, despite the previous four rounds of cooling measures, private residential prices have risen continuously for the past two years. It now stands at a record high, surpassing the peak in 1996 and 2008 by 13% and 16% respectively. Such relentless price gains are underlined by a jump in foreigner purchases – according to a report dated 25 November 2011, DTZ Research noted that the group accounted for approximately 19% of total purchases in the third quarter this year, nearly doubling from the 10% in the same quarter two years ago.
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