Daily Archives: 10 Sep 2009

S’pore is 3rd most competitive economy

Posted on 10 Sep 2009 | Comments Off on S’pore is 3rd most competitive economy

It climbs up two notches from last year in WEF survey

Singapore is the third most competitive economy, according to the latest survey by Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) released yesterday.

It climbed up two notches from last year. The boost came from increased confidence in the country’s public institutions, efficient markets for goods and labour, and high-quality financial markets.

In the Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010, the poll was conducted on 13,000 business leaders. They were asked to rate 133 countries on good government; transport and telecommunications infrastructure; openness to innovation; intellectual property protection; and availability of talent.

Switzerland overtook the United States for the top place, nudging the latter to second position.

The US lost its title as the most competitive economy in the world, as its financial markets have weakened while economic stability could be undermined by its fiscal deficits. Continue reading →

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Bids for Dakota Crescent plot soar above expectations

Posted on 10 Sep 2009 | Comments Off on Bids for Dakota Crescent plot soar above expectations

UOL Group bid tops 12 others as developers vie for choice piece of land

The result of yesterday’s tender for a plum condo plot at Dakota Crescent shows just why the government recently raised the ‘definite possibility’ that it will restart confirmed list land sales from next year.

A total of 13 bids were received, reflecting developers’ voracious appetite for mass-market and mid-tier private housing land.

The top bid from UOL Group was above market expectations of about $420-450 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) just a few days ago. UOL’s price yesterday was slightly more than $329 million or about $508 psf ppr – just 3 per cent shy of the $524 psf ppr that Ho Bee and NUTC Choice Homes paid during the peak in June 2007 for the plot next door on which they are developing Dakota Residences, which has achieved an average selling price of about $970-980 psf.

However, after taking into account changes in planning regulations since then, whereby planter boxes and bay windows are not exempted from gross floor area calculations, UOL’s bid yesterday is probably higher than the equivalent 2007 bid for the next-door plot, some market watchers say.

BT understands that UOL is gunning for a high proportion of smaller units in its proposed scheme, and thus push for a higher average selling price of about $1,000-1,050 psf. ‘They should be able to achieve this kind of psf price – so long as they keep the absolute price quantum within an affordable range,’ an industry observer said.

BT understands UOL’s breakeven cost will be about $920 psf. Continue reading →

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