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Foreign investors piled into local property last year, far outpacing the level racked up in 2012, said a DTZ report yesterday.
Investments from overseas hit $4.1 billion in 2013, a rise of more than 30 per cent on the previous year.
Investors from Asia comprised nearly 90 per cent, or $3.7 billion, of the spending, with Chinese buyers alone accounting for $2.9 billion of that.
This is almost triple the $1 billion they contributed in 2012.
Many consultants are of the view that the Singapore property market is due for a slow down. However, some consumers, especially property owners, think otherwise.
Understandably, it is currently hard to get a consensus on where the real estate market is heading due to the numerous mixed signals. On one hand, there are anecdotal evidences that the residential property market is losing steam as sales volume has dropped quite significantly.
Based on the latest URA private property price index (PPPI) flash estimates, we know that the PPPI, which represents the overall real estate price trend, has dipped in 2013Q4. This is the first dip the market has seen in the last 2 years.
At present, there are numerous views that the real estate market will stay stagnant for some time. I agree and here are 4 reasons why we think 2014, and maybe even 2015, could be a turbulent year for stakeholders of the Singapore property market.
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Prices of mass-market private condos - the mainstay of Singapore's private housing market - have finally eased for the first time since the market bottomed out in the second quarter of 2009 after the global crisis. |
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Prices of landed homes, another pillar of strength of the residential sector, also registered the first decline since Q2 2009, according to the latest flash estimates from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). |
The office market ended 2013 on a firm footing with occupancy rates, rents and capital values all higher than the year before, said property consultancy Colliers International.
The average monthly gross rent of Premium and Grade A office space in the Central Business District (CBD) climbed 2.2 per cent from the third quarter to reach $8.72 per sq ft at the end of December, the highest level in two years.
Property prices in prime districts ended the year stuck in the doldrums, leaving luxury housing as the worst performing segment of 2013.
Luxury home prices fell by 2.1 per cent last year - reversing the 0.8 per cent rise recorded in 2012.
The decline has been slow and steady and began in the second quarter, when city-centre prices fell 0.2 per cent from the first three months of the year.
They fell again - down 0.3 per cent - in the third quarter and dropped a far steeper 2.2 per cent for the three months to Dec 31, according to Urban Redevelopment Authority flash estimates yesterday.
Fearing that interest rates will soon start to rise, more Singapore borrowers are turning to fixed rate home loans.
The prospect of higher repayments has become far more pressing in recent weeks with the United States Federal Reserve's decision to begin cutting back its stimulus spending.
That paves the way for US interest rates to eventually rise, which will inevitably mean they will rise here too, as Singapore's interest rates closely follow those in the US.
A rise in short-term interest rates would hurt home loan borrowers as many are on floating rate packages that are linked to these rates.
Knight Frank Singapore has reported the sale of Long House Food Centre at Upper Thomson Road to TEE Ventures, a subsidiary of TEE Land, for S$45.2 million.
The popular food court has a land area of 1,575.6 sq m (approx. 16,960 sq ft). Under the 2008 Master Plan, the freehold site is designated as “Commercial and Residential” with a gross plot ratio of 3.0. The site is suitable for redevelopment into a four-storey mixed-use development with shops on the lower levels and residential apartments on the upper levels.
Schroders Plc and Baring Asset Management Ltd. are avoiding Singapore stocks, the cheapest in Southeast Asia, as slower economic growth in the region and cuts to Federal Reserve stimulus drive capital outflows.
The fund managers expect property to lead declines in Singapore amid a real-estate slump and the prospect of higher interest rates. The Straits Times Index was the worst-performing developed market in 2013, dropping 9.5 percent since Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said in May that bond purchases may be reduced on signs of sustainable U.S. recovery.
Less liquidity, higher wages will hit businesses hard, and property may disappoint
BUSINESS AND THE ECONOMY
Identifying the big business themes every year is in itself big business for consultants and strategists advising companies on risks and investment decisions.
Many predictions invariably fall through with unforeseen events that derail earlier forecasts.
For example, the United States Federal Reserve's unexpected comments on imminent tapering of its bond purchases sent the Singapore stock market into a tailspin in May, with funds pulling out quickly.
PwC launching White Paper on Singapore Investment Fund Framework to address needs faced by asset management industry to up its game
SINGAPORE- Viewed globally by industry players, investors and regulators as a pre-eminent asset management centre, Singapore has been the favoured entry point to Asia for Western investment fund houses because of its connectivity to the broader Asian community, robust regulatory framework and business-minded government and infrastructure. However, the ever-changing global environment is putting increasing pressure on financial centres such as Singapore to re-invent itself to remain at the forefront of the industry.
SINGAPORE - Singapore's economy grew by 3.7 per cent in 2013, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Tuesday, as he stressed the need for a balanced approach on foreign workers, whose presence has underpinned growth but riles some citizens.
"Our economy has done well. It grew by 3.7 per cent in 2013 - better than initially expected," Lee said in his New Year message.
The 3.7 per cent growth for 2013 cited by Lee is in line with the official forecast of 3.5 per cent to 4.0 per cent growth announced in November. In 2012, Singapore's economy grew by 1.3 per cent.
Singapore's overall attractiveness as a regional investment hub is often emphasised by policymakers, and it is this which the country now looks to, to counter any potential erosion of competitiveness from the latest foreign manpower policy changes.
This is especially so since repeated rounds of tighter regulations may have given foreign businesses the impression that Singapore is less open than it is, business representatives and observers say.
WASHINGTON: Singapore and Hong Kong rank the world's best places to run a business, while mainland China remains far down the list, according to the World Bank's annual competitiveness survey Tuesday.
The Southeast Asian entrepots and finance centres topped the survey for the eighth straight year, with New Zealand, the United States and Denmark rounding out the top five, as a year ago.
ONLINE cashback website Ebates.com, based in the United States and owned by Performance Marketing Brands, is the latest to venture into the Asian market.
Ebates will open its regional headquarters in Singapore by the end of the year. It has already acquired a similar company in China and plans to expand into South Korea,
Said David Teng, the company's general manager for Asia: "We're always on the lookout for business partnership that will provide more value for shoppers in the region."
CAMBRIDGE Industrial Trust (CIT) will be acquiring a property in the Bukit Merah industrial precinct from Shriro Property (Singapore) for $32 million.
Located at 11 Chang Charn Road, the property is a six-storey warehouse cum light industrial building with a gross floor area of about 9,062 square metres (sqm). The leasehold property has a remaining land tenure of about 43 years. Its current tenants include British shoe manufacturer Clarks, Swiss herb lozenges maker Ricola and business technology consulting firm Info Lab.
Singapore’s trade with the U.S, in 2013 will probably exceed $50 billion for a third year after the nation attracted the most investment from American companies in the Asia-Pacific region.
“U.S.-Singapore relations are generally at an all-time high,” U.S. Ambassador to Singapore David Adelman said in a Bloomberg Television interview. He gave the trade target for the two countries, saying “Southeast Asia has become increasingly important to American multi-national corporations as they continue to increase their participation in the global economy.”
Singapore is counting on Southeast Asia’s economic boom to lure investment as the island’s clampdown on foreign labor raises wage costs and makes it difficult for companies to fill positions.
A plan by Southeast Asian nations for a common market through the removal of tariffs and trade barriers for goods and services by 2015 will boost the bloc’s appeal as a production base, Economic Development Board Chairman Leo Yip said in a Bloomberg Television interview with Haslinda Amin. Singapore is poised to benefit as companies expanding in the region set up headquarters and research facilities here even as they build factories elsewhere, he said.
Singapore ( AsiaNews / Agencies ) – After being surpassed by Shanghai, since 2010 the number one container port in the world , Singapore has decided to double the capacity of its commercial hub for maritime trade and revitalize its economy .
This is what the city-state’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has confirmed, thanks to an investment of eight billion dollars to ensure – as expected – an annual growth of 5%. In fiscal year of 2013, the Executive has allocated the first seven million, which will cover the expense for the removal of the terminal with the aim of freeing a thousand hectares ( in Tuas , in the south -west ) for the development vehicles and infrastructure.
Singapore Jurong port to top world's ports in solar energy generation
German solar project developer Saferay, US smart grid technology provider Demansys Energy, and China clean energy firm Hanergy on Thursday announced new investments in Singapore.
Hanergy and Saferay will be establishing their international headquarters in Singapore.
Hanergy said in a press statement that the global headquarters in Singapore will oversee its sales and investment activities worldwide.
"The global headquarters will develop significant internal capabilities such as information technology infrastructure and customer relationship management tools to readily address customer's energy needs," said Jason Chow, Chairman and CEO of Hanergy Global Investments & Sales.
