Category Archives: Overseas Property

UK home loans up 29% yoy in Aug

Posted on 13 Oct 2009 | Comments Off on UK home loans up 29% yoy in Aug

Industry grouping sees this as sign of stabilising market

Banks in the UK approved almost a third more loans to buy homes than a year earlier in August in a sign the property market is stabilising, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said.

The number of mortgages granted rose to 52,700, 29 per cent more than in August 2008, the group said in an e-mailed statement yesterday in London. The total fell 5 per cent from July.

‘House purchase activity has revived from its moribund state at the beginning of the year,’ Paul Samter, an economist at the CML, said in the statement.

‘It will be a drawn-out recovery process with seasonal ups and downs, but house purchase activity is now on a firmer footing.’ Continue reading →

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Ho Bee again looks abroad for growth

Posted on 10 Oct 2009 | Comments Off on Ho Bee again looks abroad for growth

Developer sniffing for opportunities in China and London

HARD pressed to find land in Singapore, developer Ho Bee Investment again plans to beat a path overseas to places such as China and London to grow.

‘Looking for our raw material is the big challenge in Singapore. Every site that comes up (at state tenders) now attracts 12-15 tenderers. The pricing is also very competitive.’
— Mr Chua (above) at one of Ho Bee’s projects at Sentosa Cove

‘We are still sniffing for opportunities, but our next phase of growth will definitely not just be in Singapore but outside of Singapore,’ Ho Bee chairman and CEO Chua Thian Poh told BT in a recent interview.

Under a joint-venture agreement Ho Bee signed with high-end China residential developer Yanlord last month, the two Singapore-listed developers will join forces for a feasibility study on a project in China.

Ho Bee and Yanlord are also eyeing large sites in China’s second and third-tier cities to build mid and upmarket condos for locals.

Additionally, Ho Bee is scouting for residential development opportunities in Central London. ‘London was badly hurt during the financial turmoil, and the pound has also come down substantially,’ said Mr Chua. ‘Maybe it’s time for us to re-look at London again.’ Continue reading →

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