Daily Archives: 15 Oct 2009

Luxury apartment sector feels the rush

Posted on 15 Oct 2009 | Comments Off on Luxury apartment sector feels the rush

More deals clinched as sentiment improves, foreign buyers sniff around

Luxury apartment deals picked up in the second and third quarters of this year as a more cheerful mood spread to the upper realms of the private residential market.

The number of apartments priced above $4 million changing hands rose rapidly from just 15 deals in the first quarter of this year to 87 in Q2 and 210 in Q3.

The total of 312 apartments in this price range sold in the first nine months of this year are 11 per cent more than the 280 transacted for the whole of 2008, which was generally a quiet year for the Singapore residential market following the global financial crisis, notes CB Richard Ellis (CBRE). It analysed caveats information from URA’s Realis system up to Oct 12.

During 2007 – the peak year for the luxury housing market – a total 1,740 apartments were sold at over $4 million each. Continue reading →

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Posted in Luxury Property, Property Market / Real Estate, Property Price, Sentosa Property

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US mortgage industry analysts remain sceptical

Posted on 15 Oct 2009 | Comments Off on US mortgage industry analysts remain sceptical

Home foreclosures, job losses expected to continue to rise

Despite mortgage rates below 5 per cent and signs that home prices have bottomed out in some places, executives and economists are decidedly downbeat about the US mortgage industry as well as the housing market it depends on.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said Tuesday that it expected US home foreclosures to continue to rise before leveling off late next year. The reason: Job losses have replaced subprime loans as the main cause of defaults.

Jay Brinkmann, the group’s chief economist, predicted that unemployment would rise through next summer, causing delinquencies to rise.

And because of the loss of income, he said, it will be increasingly difficult to keep troubled borrowers in their homes by modifying their loans. Continue reading →

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Posted in Overseas Property

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