Daily Archives: 22 Aug 2009

More foreign investors snapping up homes here

Buyers from the region are returning now that prices have corrected

THE number of foreign buyers in Singapore’s property market shot up in the second quarter, but they are not quite the high-spending ones seen during the 2007 boom, according to property experts.

The globe-trotting high-spenders flocked to Singapore in droves then, helping to lift high-end prices even higher and setting record highs. It was not just individuals and funds – foreign developers also wanted a slice of the action.

A recent study by consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle found that foreign buyers – including permanent residents – lodged 1,662 caveats in the second quarter of this year, up from 489 caveats in the first quarter.

It was the highest quarterly sales figure since the third quarter of 2007 when 2,444 caveats were lodged. Continue reading

Ex-Parkway boss in $48m Hilltops deal

A GROUP led by former Parkway Holdings boss Tony Tan is understood to have picked up 18 apartments in the sub-sale market at Hilltops condo at Cairnhill Circle for a total of $48.2 million or an average price of about $2,560 per square foot (psf).

BT could not ascertain the loss suffered by the seller, who is believed to be a Hong Kong investor that bought the units in late 2007.

But according to back-of-the-envelope calculations by some analysts, the loss is estimated at 30-35 per cent.

The freehold project reportedly achieved an average price of just over $3,900 psf for the first 28 units, according to a news report in late 2007.

Government statistics show the project’s developer, SC Global subsidiary Taraville, sold 24 units in October 2007 at a median price of $3,711 psf.

According to the latest Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) statistics at the end of last month, 31 units in the project had been sold by the Continue reading