Daily Archives: 11 Nov 2009

Singapore Property : All tools to avoid property boom, bust

Posted on 11 Nov 2009 | Comments Off on Singapore Property : All tools to avoid property boom, bust

FINANCE Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam yesterday said the government will use every tool at its disposal ‘in a calibrated fashion’ to prevent boom and bust in the property market. One day after the Monetary Authority of Singapore served notice of further action to cool the housing market if needed, in the face of growing speculation risks, Mr Tharman spoke about the need to manage the property cycle.

It won’t involve macroeconomic levers such as the interest rate or exchange rate, though, as such tools apply across the board to businesses at large, not just the asset markets.

‘But we do have other tools like credit rules, land supply decisions and, in the extreme, tax policies, which we will use in a calibrated fashion depending on the circumstance, depending on the stage of the asset market.’ He was speaking about managing volatility generally at an Economic Strategies Committee industry forum when he cited the property market. ‘We will keep our eyes on the ball and use every tool at our disposal in a calibrated fashion to try to manage . . . as best as we can,’ he said.

But it’s ‘very hard to anticipate four to five years in advance what’s going to happen globally, regionally and hence within this global city’, he said, recalling how the government did pay heed to market signals of a supply glut in the property sector a few years ago, but found instead, by 2006 and 2007, a severe shortage, especially in the office market.

Source : Business Times – 11 Nov 2009

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Posted in Property Market / Real Estate

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Interest grows for sustainable buildings: study

Posted on 11 Nov 2009 | Comments Off on Interest grows for sustainable buildings: study

Real estate execs ready to pay a premium to retrofit their owned assets

CORPORATE real estate executives, whose companies drive demand for office space, are increasingly willing to invest in refurbishing their owned assets to meet sustainability goals, according to a new survey.

The 2009 CoreNet Global and Jones Lang LaSalle sustainability survey found 74 per cent of real estate executives would pay a premium (generally one per cent to 5 per cent) to retrofit owned space for sustainability criteria, up from 53 per cent in 2008.

However, only 37 per cent would consider paying a premium rent (between one per cent and 10 per cent), while another 21 per cent indicated they would only be willing to pay a premium rent if it was offset by lower operating costs.

Some 67 per cent of respondents also said obtaining funds to implement sustainability strategies is a difficult or extremely difficult challenge.

The executives surveyed are responsible for real estate portfolios totalling billions of square feet worldwide.

‘These results clearly show that sustainability as an issue is here to stay, but companies are increasingly aware of the commercial realities,’ said Chris Wallbank, Jones Lang LaSalle’s head of energy and sustainability services for the Asia-Pacific region. ‘It is no longer enough to simply be ‘green’. Organisations want to see the benefits to the bottom line.’

The focus on cost reduction is seen in the 60 per cent of real estate executives that are adopting workplace strategies to meet sustainability goals while reducing overall occupancy costs – up from 54 per cent in 2008. The executives are continuing to focus on strategies that are easy to implement and provide short-term cost savings, such as energy efficiency programmes and waste recycling.

But making targeted investments in sustainability can be challenging. More than 50 per cent of executives said insufficient industry metrics, difficulty in calculating return on investment (ROI) and lack of tools for collecting necessary performance data are difficult or extremely difficult challenges.

‘Companies are looking for help in making targeted sustainability investment decisions and measuring the results in terms of both environmental and financial performance,’ Mr Wallbank said. ‘Clarification of industry metrics globally, tools that collect data and turn it into information, and clear methodologies for calculating project ROI will be critical to overcoming these challenges.’

The global survey of 231 corporate real estate executives was conducted in September and October 2009.

Source : Business Times – 11 Nov 2009

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