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Monthly Archives: August 2009

Leng Beng muses on govt’s market cooling options

Posted on 14 Aug 2009 | Comments Off

Scrapping IAS, reviving confirmed list possible, but care is needed

City Developments Ltd’s (CDL) executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng reckons that the government may abolish the interest absorption scheme or reintroduce land sales through the confirmed list if it is concerned about a property bubble building up.

However, the authorities will deliberate carefully before introducing any measures to cool the market, given the government’s cautious economic outlook for the second half, Mr Kwek said yesterday.

‘In an uncertain time, you press the wrong button, (it may be) disastrous. I’m a strong believer that whatever the government wants to do, I think they’ve got to think very carefully – and they will,’ Mr Kwek said in response to an analyst’s question during CDL’s Q2 results briefing yesterday.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan last month observed that there are signs of speculation in the property market, and said that the Continue reading →

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Posted in Developers, Property Market / Real Estate

Tagged CDL, City Developments, Developers, Kwek Leng Beng, Singapore Property, Singapore Real Estate

An elite investment gets its day in the sun

Posted on 13 Aug 2009 | Comments Off

Sales of Good Class Bungalows gather steam, with some predicting healthy price rise.

The Good Class Bungalow (GCB) market has sprung to life with high-net-worth individuals stepping up their purchases.

July was an especially action-filled month which saw about 20 GCB transactions worth a total of more than $300 million. To put this in perspective, the entire first quarter of this year saw GCB deals worth only $27.5 million.

The action picked up in April, when $56 million worth of GCBs were transacted. It gathered pace in May and June, each month seeing deals amounting to around $188 million. In July, the market went ballistic.

So far this year, around 50 GCB deals have been transacted, according to caveats data compiled by property consultants and information on the latest transactions obtained by BT.

The year-to-date tally of over $800 million is healthy, considering that the whole of last year saw just 51 deals worth $830 million.

GCB agents expect the sales flow to continue in coming months. CB Richard Ellis’s director, luxury homes, Douglas Wong said: ‘It’s likely that a total of 60-65 GCBs will be sold in the whole of 2009 – more than the 51 GCBs sold in 2008. The total quantum is likely to be around $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion, about 35-45 per cent higher than the quantum of $830 million in 2008.’ Continue reading →