Property price is coming down fast

[seletar]

http://sbr.com.sg/residential-proper...homes-32-16877

Singapore Business Review
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY | Staff Reporter, Singapore
Published: 12 Dec 12

Ghost town alert: Vacant homes up 32% to 16,877

It will get worse in two years.

According to Savills, with more homes completed over the past year, the market has seen a significant rise in vacant units islandwide. From the trough in Q1/2011, the number of vacant units has increased by 32% from 12,740 to 16,877 units in Q3/2012, pushing the vacancy rate up from 4.9% to 6.1% over the same period. As of Q3 this year, the number of vacant condos stands at 14,198 units and vacant houses at 2,679 units.

The vacancy rate in the Central region was 7.9% in Q3/2012, above the five-year average of 7.5%. Similarly, the vacancy rates in the eastern and western regions of Singapore were 4.5% and 4.0% in Q3, higher than the 3.5% and 3.6% five-year averages respectively.

The vacancy rate increases are in tandem with a surge in condo completions in these areas. Some major completions over the past year include Caspian (712 units) and Mi Casa (457 units) in the west; and Double Bay Residences (646 units), Waterfront Waves (405 units) and Optima (297 units) in the east. The completions in the Central region include Reflections (1,129 units), Floridian (336 units), The Trizon (289 units), Parvis (248 units), Viva (235units) and The Wharf (186 units).

The number of vacant units is set to increase in the months ahead as an avalanche of new homes will be completed within the next two years. According to URA data, 91,869 new homes will be released to the market in the next i ve years, more than half of which have been sold. The growing supply of new homes poses a significant risk to investors who have bought private homes for rental investment, particularly if interest rates should rise.

Although it has been reported that many new homes were bought for owner occupation, the emergence of shadow spaces when owners relocate into their new premises may prove to be an additional challenge for both the leasing and sales markets. If demand from population growth does not rise in tandem and interest rates start to rise, a signii cant rental correction cannot be discounted. The likelihood of an interest-rate spike is, however, small for the moment.

[seletar]

http://sbr.com.sg/residential-proper...psed-post-absd

Singapore Business Review
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY | Staff Reporter, Singapore
Published: 20 Dec 12


Chart of the Day: Here's how home sales in core central region collapsed post-ABSD

Up to 10% price dip in high-end segment seen next year.

Over 2011-2012 to date, Singapore property market is seeing low sales volumes in the high- end segment, which has been exacerbated by the impact of a 10% Additional Buyer Stamp Duty imposed in Dec 2011 on foreigners andnon-individuals buying residential property in Singapore, said OCBC.

In the period over 2009-2010, OCBC reports that new home sales volume in the Core Central Region (CCR) averaged at 323 units per month; this fell to 141 units per month in the period from 2011 to date.

Price appreciation for the CCR also trailed other regions throughout the year, with the CCR price index up only 0.15% year to date, versus 2.63% and 0.54% for Outside Central Region (OCR) and RCR (Rest of Central Region) price indices.

"We believe the muted price performance in the high-end segment would continue and forecast for high-end prices to dip 0%-10% in 2013, driven by the impact of recent cooling measures, in particular the additional buyer stamp duties imposed in Dec 2011," it said.

[seletar]

http://sbr.com.sg/residential-proper...y-market-comes

Singapore Business Review
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY | Staff Reporter, Singapore
Published: 20 Dec 12

Here's where the real trouble in the property market comes

Physical completion rate exceeds population growth from FY14.

OCBC cautions of a formidable wave of completed units to hit in FY14-15.

"We see private residential completion increasing dramatically in FY14-15 with ~42k units being completed. With a similar spike in HDB completions in FY14-15 (est. 48k units) and expected slower population growth of 100k pa ahead, we see the capita per physical home ratio begin falling in FY13," it said.

OCBC notes that if most of these units are not owner occupied, the secondary market could start seeing downward price pressure as well as pressure on residential rental levels.

[seletar]

With very high property costs and living costs, Singapore is losing it's economic competitiveness and attractiveness, not just to MNCs but SMEs too.

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/prem...-mncs-20130108

Business Times
Published January 08, 2013

Call of S'pore less thrilling now for MNCs

Survey shows rising costs and staff shortages could hurt Republic's attractiveness as a regional HQ

By Teh Shi Ning


[SINGAPORE] Singapore is losing its attractiveness to global multinational companies (MNCs) as a location from which to manage business in Asia, a new survey by The Economist Corporate Network (ECN) suggests.

Concerns about inflation, soaring property prices and staff shortages are taking some of the shine off Singapore's reputation as a regional headquarters hub, says the 2013 Asia Business Outlook Survey (ABOS).

Singapore has also lost some popularity as a priority market for investment growth, slipping from being the fifth most important Asian market in 2012 to seventh this year, behind China, the Indian sub-continent, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam - this, even though more than a third of the MNCs polled plan to raise their level of investment here.

[Rysk]

Not only that.. A few children also say that their parent sold off the roof over their head & forced them go into rental.. For the past the years every now & then their parent been spending most of the time infront of forum searching for bad news & do copy & paste desperately

Hopefully their parent can spend more time with their kids.. rather than keep logging at forum.. searching for bad news & do copy & paste.. in their rental flat

[samuelk]

Hopefully their parent can spend more time with their kids.. rather than keep logging at forum.. searching for bad news & do copy & paste.. in their rental flat

from the looks of the old news on. Property coming down and the latest one on the expat deem unattractive with high prices. Would that not negate the news of each other?

[phantom_opera]

what this graph failed to take in is the extra 300k SPRs and 100k SCs/EPs/DP holders we took in the past few years that are still renting and pushing up HDB rental to amazing level

[seletar]

http://www.stproperty.sg/articles-pr...market/a/97123

The great divide in rental market

The Straits Times - December 9, 2012
By: Goh Eng Yeow



High-end developments The Marq on Paterson Hill and Hilltops in Cairnhill Circle have been completed for at least a year, but still have numerous units unsold, according to reports. -- ST FILE PHOTO


Recently a friend posed this interesting question: If the residential market is so hot, why did she have to slash her rent to get a tenant?

If she had owned a run-down apartment in an undesirable neighbourhood her predicament would have been understandable.

But her apartment is in a posh condominium within a stone's throw of landmarks such as St Regis Hotel and Tanglin Mall, high up in the sky with a panoramic view of the city.

Her previous tenant - a hedge fund manager - had terminated the lease prematurely after losing his job.

The flat was vacant for two months, and she finally had to slash the rent by 25per cent to get a tenant.

It sums up the dilemma faced by owners of upmarket condos. On paper, their investments look good because they appear to have appreciated sharply, but they are not getting much by way of returns in the form of rent because the pool of high-flying tenants appears to be drying up.

Two years ago, landlords could call the shots and pick and choose tenants.

The economy had experienced a V-shaped recovery after the global financial crisis and large numbers of expatriates were flocking to work in our financial centre.

But since then, the pool of tenants has shrunk: The job market for high-paid expatriates has slowed while competition has intensified, given the number of new residential projects that have been completed.

Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data bears this out.

In 2010, private housing rentals jumped by 17.9per cent, but last year they went up just 3.8per cent, while a record number of leases - 41,573 - were signed.

Rents in most locations this year look like they will hold up at best at last year's levels, according to URA numbers for for the first nine months.

The only exception appears to be Geylang. This has become more popular among tenants as they flock to lease cheap shoe-box units, with floor areas of 500 sq ft or less.

That means desperate owners of upmarket condos like my friend will have to settle for less in order to get some rental income to service their mortgage.

And the going may get tougher.

Sure, bad news such as UBS' announcement that it is cutting 10,000 jobs has cast a pall over other international financial centres like London, where the global lender has vast operations, as it may herald a growing trend of financial service cut-backs.

But landlords in Singapore could feel the pinch if the blood-letting occurs here.

In recent years, loads of investment bankers have relocated to Singapore from London and New York, as global lenders sniff more business opportunities amid a regional boom.

The saving grace is that the chill of a falling rental market is only being felt in the upmarket condo segment - so far at least. Landlords with mass market condos are having few difficulties renting out units as tenants downsize to more affordable apartments.

On the supply side, there seems to be no end to the horror scenarios painted by dour analysts citing the number of homes due for completion that could put further pressure on rents if the pool of high-flying tenants keeps shrinking.

A recent Nomura report, for example, flags that the number of newly completed homes next year may hit 42,309, including the 24,551 HDB flats being built by the Government.

This compares with the 21,859 units completed this year and the average annual housing demand of just under 20,000 units since 2001.

The Straits Times reported that high-end developments such as The Marq on Paterson Hill and Hilltops in Cairnhill Circle have been completed for at least a year but still have numerous units unsold.

Still, there is a valuable lesson here for investors who believe that buying a residential property is a sure ticket to riches.

Sure, mortgage rates are at rock-bottom, which makes financing a condo a breeze.

But that is only part of the story. Unless you plan to occupy the flat yourself, getting a tenant may not be as simple as you think.

It is just as well that the Government's October cooling measures were aimed at stopping buyers from over-extending themselves.

Home loans have been capped at a tenure of 35 years, while those taking a loan of more than 30 years, or taking loans that extend past the retirement age of 65, will have to fork out more in cash.

This will weed out the property investors least able to cope financially if they have only the rental income to rely on to pay the mortgage if a slowdown hits.

Just like quicksand, getting into a property investment may be much easier than getting out of it.

[seletar]

http://business.asiaone.com/A1Busine...-391608/2.html

China Property curbs to continue in 2013





China Daily/Asia News Network
Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012

Controls on the property sector will continue, to prevent over-investment from buyers next year, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said on Tuesday.

China has tightened its curbs on the property sector since 2010, when home prices rose beyond the reach of average wage earners.

The government introduced a series of restrictions to control house purchases in several cities, requiring higher down payments and bringing in property taxes.

Some 28 per cent of wealthy investors faced huge losses in the real estate market last year, according to the latest annual Chinese wealth report from the Boston Consulting Group and China Construction Bank Corp, and 3 per cent of them saw losses of more than 30 per cent.

China's high-net-worth population is defined as those with financial assets of more than 6 million yuan ($960,000).

Most property investors have encountered severe difficulties after failing to sell luxury houses to compensate for huge losses experienced by the tightened policies.

Ding Yi, a developer specialising in luxury mansions in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, said: "Those property investors who purchased houses after 2009 have to suffer losses of more than 30 per cent if they want to sell their properties now."

Ding said most experienced property investors have not been hit with large losses but those with less experience have "learned a lesson".

After the central government tightened policies for home purchases, investors' enthusiasm cooled dramatically.

Ding said: "I know that investors have mostly stayed out of the property market and are waiting for better prices to sell."

A small number of investors who took out high-interest loans to buy properties were forced to sell at a loss of 30 per cent on the market price to repay their debts, Ding said.

Zhuang Chen, a Wenzhou property investor with 30 houses nationwide, said he bought most of the properties before 2010 when the restrictions were imposed.

"I am still waiting for housing prices to recover, which will happen sooner or later."

Zhuang said many of his friends have had trouble selling their properties.

[seletar]

http://business.asiaone.com/A1Busine...26-391764.html

China warns of rising financial risks

AFP
Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012



BEIJING - China's financial system is facing increasing risks due to soaring bank loans, with lending to the property sector and local governments a particular concern, the finance ministry warned Wednesday.

Bank lending has been rising "at a high speed" in recent years and the quality is yet to be tested, Li Yong, vice finance minister, was quoted in a statement as saying.

"There are rather high potential risks, particularly in (loans extended to) the real-estate sector and its related industries and in the poorly designed maturity of lending granted to local government financing vehicles," he said, without elaborating.

He made the remarks at a national financial work conference earlier this month, according to the statement.

Chinese banks extended 7.75 trillion yuan (US$1.2 trillion) in new loans in the first 11 months of the year, 919.1 billion yuan more than the same period last year, official data showed.

Lending to the property sector totalled 982.1 billion yuan in the first three quarters of the year, 10.2 billion yuan less than the same period in 2011, according to the latest central bank quarterly report.

China has for the past two years sought to tighten policies on the property sector to rein in rising home prices.

Measures included limits on second and third home purchases, higher minimum downpayments, and annual taxes in some cities on multiple and non-locally-owned homes. These dampened speculation and strained developers' cash flow.

The National Audit Office last year put the debt held by local governments at 10.7 trillion yuan at the end of 2010, or about 27 per cent of China's gross domestic product that year.

Some economists have said most of the debt was cheap medium to long-term loans granted by commercial banks, according to previous media reports.

Li also said China's economic growth was set to slow over the long term due to sluggish foreign demand, insufficient domestic consumption, rising labour costs and increasing resource and environment constraints.

The world's second-largest economy has slowed for seven consecutive quarters. It expanded 7.4 per cent in the three months ended September 30, its worst performance since the first quarter of 2009.

The government has cut its target to 7.0 per cent annually for the five years through 2015.

[seletar]

http://business.asiaone.com/A1Busine...31-392523.html

Merkel steels Germans for 'more difficult' 2013





AFP
Monday, Dec 31, 2012

BERLIN, Germany - Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Germans that the economy, Europe's biggest, would experience a harder time next year than in 2012 and cautioned too that the eurozone debt crisis was far from over.

In her annual New Year address published Monday, Merkel said: "In fact, the economic environment next year will not be easier, but more difficult", adding: "The crisis is a long way from being beaten."

Although top exporter Germany has managed to hold up to the crisis fairly well, growth has slowed here as well since the beginning of the year.

After expanding by 0.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2012, gross domestic product (GDP) grew by just 0.3 per cent in the second quarter and a mere 0.2 per cent in the third quarter.

And in October, the government slashed its forecast for economic output next year to 1.0 per cent, compared to 1.6 per cent previously anticipated.

The country's gloomy central bank has said Germany may even flirt briefly with recession early next year.

The Bundesbank also forecast that Germany would only grow by a meagre 0.4 per cent next year.

Nevertheless, "it has been possible this year to have the lowest unemployment and the highest level of employment since the reunification" in 1990, Merkel recalled.

And a slowdown next year "should not leave us discouraged but should spur us on", said the chancellor, according to the text of her speech released in advance by her office.

Turning to the eurozone's efforts to tackle its three-year debt crisis, she judged that "the reforms that we have decided are beginning to work".

"However, we still need more patience. The crisis is a long way from being overcome."

She appeared more pessimistic than other eurozone leaders such as France's President Francois Hollande or even her own finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, both of whom have declared the worst of the crisis over.

In an interview with mass circulation Bild last week, Schaeuble said: "I think the worst is behind us", citing positive developments in Greece and France.

Hollande has repeatedly said the eurozone crisis, which has at times threatened the very existence of the 17-country currency union, was past.

Merkel also called for better supervision of the financial markets, stressing: "The world has still not sufficiently learnt the lessons of the devastating financial crisis of 2008".

"Never again should such a lack of responsibility assert itself as before. In the social market economy, the state is the guardian of order and people have to be able to have confidence in that," added the chancellor.

[Rysk]

Try harder.. or change another tactics.. cos even act blur by doing "copy & paste" of bad news had proven that only FAILURE will do it

Prices have been dropping in the resale market.

[seletar]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/bu...atch.html?_r=0

Unemployment Rises to New High in Euro Zone

The New York Times
Published: January 8, 2013


BERLIN — Unemployment in the euro zone rose to a new high in November, according to data released Tuesday that also showed that the troubles in the 17-nation currency bloc were straining its strongest member, Germany.

The euro zone jobless rate rose to 11.8 percent in November from 11.7 percent in October, according to Eurostat, the statistical agency of the European Union. Eurostat estimated that 18.8 million people in the euro zone were unemployed in November, two million more than a year earlier.

Germany has provided momentum to the European economy over the past three years, as strong exports protected the country from the crisis.

But on Tuesday, the Federal Statistics Office in Berlin said that German exports declined 3.4 percent while imports slid 3.7 percent in November from a month earlier. The weakness narrowed Germany’s trade surplus to €14.6 billion, or $19 billion.

German factory orders also fell in November amid weak demand from outside the euro area, the Economy Ministry said Tuesday. Orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, slid 1.8 percent from October, when they jumped 3.8 percent.

“The November numbers are not a one-off but an extension of the current trend of weakening exports,” Carsten Brzeski, an economist at ING, wrote in a research note Tuesday. He pointed out that German exports had fallen about 4 percent since May.

“Today’s data confirmed our view that exports should have turned from driver of growth into drag on growth,” he wrote.

A separate report from Eurostat showed that retail sales fell 2.6 percent in November from a year earlier, though they gained 0.1 percent from October.

The gloomy reports come as the Governing Council of the European Central Bank prepares to hold a policy meeting Thursday, followed by an interest-rate announcement. Despite a sharp decline in bank lending reported last week, which had some analysts suggesting that the central bank might try new steps to stimulate the economy, economists surveyed by Reuters said they expected the E.C.B. to leave policy unchanged in January as it waited for a clearer picture of economic conditions.

Like their counterparts in the United States, Japan and Britain, the monetary authorities in the euro zone have already opened the spigots, allowing banks to borrow essentially as much as they want at the benchmark rate. Mario Draghi, president of the E.C.B., has pledged to do whatever is necessary to ensure the stability of the euro, including, if needed, buying the sovereign bonds of Spain and Italy to hold their borrowing costs to sustainable levels.

The president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, said Monday in Lisbon that “the existential threat against the euro has essentially been overcome. ”

“In 2013 the question won’t be if the euro will, or will not, implode,” he said.

The central bank’s actions have succeeded in calming markets and driving down government bond yields for embattled countries. The European Commission reported Tuesday that an index of economic sentiment in the euro zone had improved by 1.3 points in December, to 87. “Economic sentiment in the euro area improved among consumers and across all sectors, except retail trade,” the commission reported.

Gilles Moëc, an economist at Deutsche Bank in London, said the data Tuesday were consistent with expectations that the euro zone economy would remain in recession through the winter, with the unemployment rate possibly rising to as high as 12.4 percent.

“We’re still far below the level of growth that would stabilize the labor market,” he said.

But he added that the commission’s report on economic sentiments, as well as recent surveys of purchasing managers, suggested that the downturn in the manufacturing sector had “bottomed out,” making possible a return to growth later in the year.

“External demand seems to be holding up better than we had thought,” Mr. Moëc said. “Now we are to a large extent dependent on what happens in the United States,” he added, referring to the negotiations on spending.

Europe also got a vote of confidence from Tokyo on Tuesday, as Finance Minister Taro Aso said Japan would buy bonds of the European Stability Mechanism, the euro zone bailout fund, as well as sovereign debt in the currency zone.

“The financial stability of Europe will help the stability of foreign exchange rates, including the yen,” Mr. Aso was quoted by the Nikkei newspaper as saying.

Attacking joblessness may require governments to ease back on austerity measures that many economists, including some at the International Monetary Fund, say might have gone too far. In France, President François Hollande has vowed to turn around the flagging labor market, where, according to Eurostat, unemployment was 10.5 percent in November.

Eurostat said Spain, which is suffering from the collapse of a real estate bubble and the impact of a raft of tough austerity measures, had the highest unemployment rate in the bloc, at 26.6 percent. Greece, where the sovereign debt crisis began, was next at 26 percent, according to data released in September. The lowest rates were in Austria, at 4.5 percent; Luxembourg, at 5.1 percent; and Germany, at 5.4 percent.

Worryingly, youth unemployment in the euro zone continued to grow, with 5.8 million people under age 25 classified as jobless in November, up 420,000 from a year earlier.

The Greek prime minister, Antonis Samaras, who was in Berlin for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday, singled out youth unemployment as one of the biggest challenges Greece faces in reviving its economy. But he said at a news conference before meeting the chancellor that, over all, he was positive.

“I see the glass half-full,” Mr. Samaras said before taking part in an economic conference in Berlin. “We’re delivering and Europe’s helping.”

It was the Greek prime minister’s second trip to Berlin since taking office. The mood appeared lighter than during his visit in August, which came on the heels of calls from within Ms. Merkel’s government for Greece to leave the common currency.

Greece is focusing its efforts on winning back the trust of Europeans, as well as the markets, Mr. Samaras said. But he emphasized that high unemployment, especially among young people, weighed heavily on Greeks.

“I would like to make it clear up front that our country is making enormous efforts and many are paying a high price, in order to get things back on track,” Mr. Samaras said.

Ms. Merkel said that Greece’s European partners must continue to support the country. She was perhaps wary of the fragility of Mr. Samaras’s three-party coalition government, which has been pushing through deeply unpopular reforms.

“We also must do everything to guarantee economic growth, security and jobs,” Ms. Merkel said.

David Jolly reported from Paris. James Kanter contributed reporting from Brussels and Hiroko Tabuchi from Tokyo.

[seletar]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori...246784/1/.html

Euro unemployment hits 'unacceptable' high

Channel News Asia
Posted: 09 January 2013 0351 hrs


BRUSSELS: European unemployment has hit an unacceptable high, as one national leader put it on Tuesday, with dire figures in Spain highlighting a growing north-south divide that experts warn will only get worse.

The unemployment rate across the troubled 17-nation eurozone hit 11.8 per cent in November, up from 11.7 per cent in October, with the number of people out of work in the single currency area now nudging 19 million.

The 19th rise in a row for the eurozone, home to some 330 million people, represented an increase of more than two million on the dole compared with a year ago, according to data published by the EU statistics service Eurostat.

London-based IHS Global Insight analyst Howard Archer calculated the cumulative increase since April 2011 as 3.278 million after another 113,000 people lost their jobs.

"The only crumb of comfort was that this was the smallest rise since August, although it did follow a particularly sharp rise of 220,000 in October," Archer noted, before adding that he expected the jobless rate to "move clearly above 12 per cent during 2013."

The jobless numbers exceeded 26 million for the first time across the full 27-member European Union, which includes Britain and Poland, but the EU as a whole posted an unchanged unemployment rate of 10.7 per cent.

Such levels are "completely unacceptable," said Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, during a visit to Germany.

Eurostat figures showed that more jobs were lost over the past year in the eurozone, at 2.015 million, than in the 27-member EU, where the number was slightly lower at 2.012 million.

Hit by a property market bust and riddled with bad debt in its banks, Spain recorded the highest unemployment rate of all European countries -- at 26.6 per cent, worse even than bailed-out Greece.

Among under-25s, both those countries reported unemployment rates that hovered around 57 per cent.

According to figures that were seasonally-adjusted for comparative purposes, the November unemployment rate in key rival economies was 7.8 per cent for the United States and 4.1 per cent for Japan.

"2012 has been another very bad year for Europe in terms of unemployment and the deteriorating social situation," said European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Laszlo Andor.

"The risk of poverty or exclusion is constantly growing," he said, warning that "most national welfare systems have lost much of their ability to protect household incomes."

He added in reference to Germany and other northern economies faring far better than Europe's southern Mediterranean rim: "The divergence is especially striking between the north and the south of the eurozone."

Giving his annual report on employment trends, Andor said it was "unlikely that Europe will see much socio-economic improvement in 2013" and called for "appropriate labour market reforms and improvements in the design of welfare systems."

The Commission concluded there was a divergence between "countries that seem trapped in a downward spiral of falling output, fast-rising unemployment and eroding disposable incomes, and those that have so far shown good or at least some resilience."

Southern and peripheral countries whose governments and companies face higher interest rates or lack access to market financing will continue to struggle, the EU executive warned.

- AFP/jc

[phantom_opera]

watch out for the land bids ... developers have better risk analysts than us

CAPL 850psf at Bishan
WingTai 960psf at Bukit Merah
Keppel Land 790psf at Tanah Merah
Wheelock Properties 790psf at AMK

so many 地王

[taggy]

watch out for the land bids ... developers have better risk analysts than us

CAPL 850psf at Bishan
WingTai 960psf at Bukit Merah
Keppel Land 790psf at Tanah Merah
Wheelock Properties 790psf at AMK

so many 地王

developer don't care about possible QE terminating this year huh ?

[phantom_opera]

developer don't care about possible QE terminating this year huh ?

they are confident they will launch in 6m, sell out in 1m

[Rysk]

watch out for the land bids ... developers have better risk analysts than us

CAPL 850psf at Bishan
WingTai 960psf at Bukit Merah
Keppel Land 790psf at Tanah Merah
Wheelock Properties 790psf at AMK

so many 地王

They will launch comparable to Capland's Bishan St 14. You think how much leh? Don't expect to be lower than 1500..

It says.. "The project will be ready for launch in six to nine months’ time. In anticipation of latent demand, the sale price is anticipated to be S$1,500 psf or more.”

http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/prope...ng-mo-kio-site

[seletar]

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/prem...banks-20130110

Business Times
Published January 10, 2013

Bank of Spain calls for inspectors in 16 banks

Central bank finds 'shortfalls' in its surveillance of banking system


[MADRID] Harshly criticised for failing to avert a major financial crisis, the Bank of Spain says in a report that it has found "shortfalls" in its surveillance of the banking system and called for inspectors to be posted inside the top 16 banks.

The report was carried out as one of the conditions imposed by Brussels in return for a rescue loan of up to 100 billion euros (S$160 billion) to fix the balance sheets of Spanish banks awash with bad loans since a 2008 property crash.

"We have detected some shortfalls, vagueness, and a failure to update procedures that should be corrected," said the report drawn up by an internal committee of the central bank and published late on Tuesday.

The committee notably recommended placing central bank inspectors permanently in each of Spain's 16 largest banks to more closely monitor their business.

[seletar]

http://www.todayonline.com/Commentar...rest-rate-risk

The real interest rate risk

by Zhang Monan
04:45 AM Jan 10, 2013


Since 2007, the financial crisis has pushed the world into an era of low, if not near-zero, interest rates and quantitative easing, as most developed countries seek to reduce debt pressure and perpetuate fragile payment cycles.

Despite talk of easy money as the "new normal", there is a strong risk that real (inflation-adjusted) interest rates will rise in the next decade.

Total capital assets of central banks worldwide amount to US$18 trillion (S$22 trillion), or 19 per cent of global GDP, twice the level of 10 years ago. This gives them plenty of ammunition to guide market interest rates lower as they combat the weakest recovery since the Great Depression.

In the United States, the Federal Reserve has lowered its benchmark interest rate 10 times since August 2007, from 5.25 per cent to a zone between zero and 0.25 per cent, and has reduced the discount rate 12 times (by a total of 550 basis points since June 2006), to 0.75 per cent.

The European Central Bank has lowered its main refinancing rate eight times, by a total of 325 basis points, to 0.75 per cent. The Bank of Japan has twice lowered its interest rate, which now stands at 0.1 per cent.

But this vigorous attempt to cut rates is distorting capital allocation.

The US, with the world's largest deficits and debt, is the biggest beneficiary of cheap financing.

With the persistence of Europe's sovereign-debt crisis, safe-haven effects have driven the yield of 10-year US Treasury bonds to their lowest level in 60 years, while the 10-year swap spread - gap between a fixed-rate and a floating-rate payment stream - is negative, implying a real loss for investors.

The US government is now trying to repay old debt by borrowing more; in 2010, average annual debt creation (including debt refinance) moved above US$4 trillion, or almost one-quarter of GDP, compared to the pre-crisis average of 8.7 per cent of GDP.

As this figure continues to rise, investors will demand a higher risk premium, causing debt-service costs to rise. And, once the US economy shows signs of recovery and the Fed's targets of 6.5 per cent unemployment and 2.5 per cent annual inflation are reached, the authorities will abandon quantitative easing and force real interest rates higher.

Japan, too, is now facing emerging interest-rate risks, as the proportion of public debt held by foreigners reaches a new high. While the yield on Japan's 10-year bond has dropped to an all-time low in the last nine years, the biggest risk, as in the US, is a large increase in borrowing costs as investors demand higher risk premia.

Once Japan's sovereign-debt market becomes unstable, refinancing difficulties will hit domestic financial institutions, which hold a massive volume of public debt on their balance sheets.

The result will be chain reactions similar to that seen in Europe's sovereign-debt crisis, with a vicious circle of sovereign and bank debt leading to credit-rating downgrades and a sharp rise in bond yields. Japan's debt crisis will then erupt with full force.


BUY MORE, LOSE MORE


Viewed from creditors' perspective, the age of cheap finance for the indebted countries is over. To some extent, the over-accumulation of US debt reflects the global perception of zero risk. As a result, the external-surplus countries (including China) essentially contribute to the suppression of long-term US interest rates, with the average US Treasury bond yield dropping 40 per cent between 2000 and 2008.

Thus, the more US debt that these countries buy, the more money they lose. That is especially true of China, the world's second-largest creditor country (and America's largest creditor). But this arrangement is quickly becoming unsustainable.

China's far-reaching shift to a new growth model implies major structural and macroeconomic changes in the medium and long term. The yuan's unilateral revaluation will end, accompanied by the gradual easing of external liquidity pressure.

With risk assets' long-term valuation falling and pressure to prick price bubbles rising, China's capital reserves will be insufficient to refinance the developed countries' debts cheaply.

China is not alone. As a recent report by the international consultancy McKinsey & Company argues, the next decade will witness rising interest rates worldwide amid global economic rebalancing.

For the time being, the developed economies remain weak, with central banks attempting to stimulate anaemic demand. But the tendency in recent decades, especially since 2007, to suppress interest rates will be reversed within the next few years, owing mainly to rising investment from the developing countries.

Moreover, China's ageing population and its strategy of boosting domestic consumption will negatively affect global savings. The world may enter a new era in which investment demand exceeds desired savings, which means that real interest rates must rise. PROJECT SYNDICATE

Zhang Monan is a fellow at the China Information Center and China Foundation for International Studies, and researcher at China Macroeconomic Research Platform.

[seletar]

http://www.todayonline.com/Business/...jobs-worldwide

Morgan Stanley to cut 1,600 jobs worldwide

TODAYonline
Updated 08:07 AM Jan 10, 2013


NEW YORK - Morgan Stanley plans to cut 1,600 staff starting this week, two people familiar with the matter said yesterday, in the latest sign of a pullback on Wall Street as revenue from trading and deal-making remains in the doldrums.

The reduction pertains to Morgan Stanley's institutional securities unit - which includes sales, trading and investment banking, and whose staff will be reduced 6 per cent - as well as support staff working in areas like technology, said the sources. The cuts represent less than 3 per cent of Morgan Stanley's entire estimated workforce at year-end.

The staff cuts are notable because, unlike its chief rival Goldman Sachs, which culls the bottom 5 per cent of its workforce each year to improve performance, Morgan Stanley does not have such a programme.

Although the layoffs will affect all staff levels, the likely targets will be more senior employees who take in the biggest paycheques. About half of the job cuts will occur in the United States, with the rest affecting international units, said one of the sources. Reuters

[seletar]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori...246876/1/.html

MNCs freeze hiring, but S'pore job market not badly hit: HR outlook

Channel News Asia
Posted: 09 January 2013 1514 hrs


SINGAPORE: Many multinational corporations (MNCs) located in Singapore have already frozen the hiring of staff, due to the prolonged economic challenges in the Eurozone and sluggish growth in the United States.

But Singapore's job scene is not likely to be badly hit, according to the employment outlook for the first quarter of 2013 painted by Singapore-based human resource consultancy firm, PrimeStaff Management Services.

It said Singapore's unemployment rate is expected to "remain status quo", although there could be a very slight increase in unemployment.

It believes several sectors will hire aggressively, due partly to the manpower crunch from the tightening of employment policies for foreign workers. They include hospitality, food & beverage, retail, construction and healthcare.

Demand for manpower in niche areas, such as education research, IT and engineering, is set to increase.

Companies in the manufacturing sector are likely to lay off workers, due to sluggish global growth. Those in the banking sector are likely to do likewise, due to stiff competition and the need to restructure the workforce to meet changing market demands.

-CNA/ac

[seletar]

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/prem...study-20130110

Business Times
Published January 10, 2013

SMEs' H1 growth outlook more subdued: study

SBF-DP poll shows SMEs are less likely to raise headcount

By Felda Chay


[SINGAPORE] Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) here expressed more subdued growth expectations for turnover and profit, and fewer expect to increase headcount in the first half of this year.

The latest results of the quarterly SME Index study by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and DP Information Group showed that SMEs continue to expect turnover and profit to grow, but are a little less upbeat about their prospects compared with the sentiment at the end of last year.

The index score registered this time round for turnover growth expectations was 5.44, a dip from 5.46 in the previous study released in October last year. For profit growth, the score was 5.33 compared with 5.38 previously. Both scores continue to remain above 5 - which indicates that SMEs still expect to see their top line and bottom line growing.

Given the dimmer outlook, SMEs said that they are less likely to increase staff strength. The score for hiring activity was 5.54, compared with 5.59 in the previous survey.

[seletar]

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/prem...rents-20130110

Business Times
Published January 10, 2013

SMEs seek cash grants, steps to lower rents

They hope Budget will also address labour concerns

By Nisha Ramchandani




Rental is another area of concern with about four in five respondents (81 per cent) wanting the government to introduce measures in the 2013 Budget to trim or offset rental costs - PHOTO: SPH


[SINGAPORE] Businesses are hoping for government grants and the fine-tuning of foreign worker policies in the 2013 Budget to help them tackle major concerns over labour, rising costs and rents, according to a survey.

Conducted by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore (ICPAS) in November, the survey polled 575 respondents from the accounting and business community.

In the upcoming Budget, respondents hope that the government will help businesses manage increasing costs, with 60 per cent saying that cash grants would help small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Around 45 per cent of those polled also said that the government should revive the Jobs Credit Scheme as a pre-emptive move to prevent retrenchment.

[seletar]

http://sbr.com.sg/commercial-propert...units-seascape

Singapore Business Review
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY | Staff Reporter, Singapore
Published: 09 Jan 13


Ho Bee stuck with 104 unsold units at Seascape

Marketing efforts must be intensified.

According to Maybank Kim Eng, Ho Bee is a name synonymous with prime living on Sentosa Cove, and its Sentosa Cove projects still account for the bulk of its Singapore residential landbank.

However, to improve the quality of its recurrent income, Ho Bee has been divesting non-core assets ahead of The Metropolitan’s completion, which the firm thinks will be another key development to watch.

While Ho Bee has not been selling units from its Sentosa Cove projects, there appears to be some activity in the secondary market there. Resale transactions at the Cove have come off a low of just three units in 1Q12 following the introduction of the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty in Dec 2011 to twenty-one units transacted in both 2Q12 and 3Q12 each.

[DKSG]

http://sbr.com.sg/commercial-propert...units-seascape

Singapore Business Review
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY | Staff Reporter, Singapore
Published: 09 Jan 13


Ho Bee stuck with 104 unsold units at Seascape

Marketing efforts must be intensified.

According to Maybank Kim Eng, Ho Bee is a name synonymous with prime living on Sentosa Cove, and its Sentosa Cove projects still account for the bulk of its Singapore residential landbank.

However, to improve the quality of its recurrent income, Ho Bee has been divesting non-core assets ahead of The Metropolitan’s completion, which the firm thinks will be another key development to watch.

While Ho Bee has not been selling units from its Sentosa Cove projects, there appears to be some activity in the secondary market there. Resale transactions at the Cove have come off a low of just three units in 1Q12 following the introduction of the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty in Dec 2011 to twenty-one units transacted in both 2Q12 and 3Q12 each.

Just like the CCR area, buying intensity has increased in Q3 and Q4 12.
This is in line with my earlier posts that foreigners are slowly coming back to Sg property market knowing that they price decrease expectations is not going to be realised in the near future.


DKSG

[Ringo33]

OK. Mr. B can come out liao.

[PN]

OK. Mr. B can come out liao.

Tell you a secret. I don't think he is in Singapore.
Not that he don't want to post here but he can't post.

He's probably staying in Shanghai. (he boast about enjoying himself in Shanghai before). So can't access to CondoSingapore.
How I know? Because I travel to China recently. I used to be able access to this site but now cannot. I tried to access CondoSingapore from hotel, from friends house, from restaurant, all cannot go thru. All Blocked. Why block, don't ask me.
That's why he disappears here.

But he is still active in CNA forum because it's not block in China.

[phantom_opera]

Cm7 killing market softly

[sh]

Tell you a secret. I don't think he is in Singapore.
Not that he don't want to post here but he can't post.

He's probably staying in Shanghai. (he boast about enjoying himself in Shanghai before). So can't access to CondoSingapore.
How I know? Because I travel to China recently. I used to be able access to this site but now cannot. I tried to access CondoSingapore from hotel, from friends house, from restaurant, all cannot go thru. All Blocked. Why block, don't ask me.
That's why he disappears here.

But he is still active in CNA forum because it's not block in China.

Not true, I'm in Shanghai now... in transit....