Singapore ranks 13th for property transparency globally

Posted on 29 Jun 2012 | Comments Off on Singapore ranks 13th for property transparency globally

Increasing transparency across global real estate markets

Singapore is ranked 13th among the most transparent real estate markets in the world, according to the 2012 Global Real Estate Transparency Index released by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).

Singapore recorded a composite score of 1.85, while Hong Kong, which landed in 11th spot, saw a rating of 1.76.

The index calculates transparency in 97 global real estate markets by assessing 83 different factors.

Chris Fossick, Managing Director of Singapore and Southeast Asia at JLL, said: “The real estate markets in South East Asia have made significant inroads in improving their transparency over the past two years. Three out of the top 10 improvers globally are from this region – The Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.”

He attributed the improved standing of the three countries to greater availability of market data as well as changes in regulatory and transaction processes.

Majority of the Southeast Asian markets landed either in the transparent (Singapore and Malaysia) or semi-transparent (Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand) brackets.

“This finding is echoed by the recent rise in direct foreign investments (FDI) into the ASEAN especially into Indonesia and the Philippines. The rise of FDI into ASEAN is testament of global investors’ confidence of the long term growth potential in this region,” noted Fossick.

Even though no Asian city made it into the top 10 list of highly transparent markets, Hong Kong and Singapore “have shown improvements in their overall global ranking with Hong Kong marginally ahead of Singapore as a result of more detailed market fundamental data”.

“While steady progress in real estate transparency has been made during the past two years, much still needs to be done,” said Jeremy Kelly, National Director, Global Research at JLL.

Source : PropertyGuru – 2012 Jun 28

Comments Off on Singapore ranks 13th for property transparency globally

Posted in General

Tagged , ,

Property auctions market sputters along

Posted on 29 Jun 2012 | Comments Off on Property auctions market sputters along

Singapore’s property auction market saw a subdued start to the year due to the effects of the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD).

Of the 198 properties put up for auction in H12012, 191 were listed by owners while seven were put up by mortgagees.

“This continues the trend of declining mortgagee listings since Year 2007, which reflects the improved financial position of mortgagors on the back of the continued low interest rate and high liquidity environment, as well as a healthy rental market,” according to Colliers International.

But from the total number of listed properties, only 10 were sold achieving a total sale value of S$34.3 million, the second lowest figure since the 2008 global financial crisis.

The value is 50.5 percent below the S$69.25 million recorded from 33 properties auctioned in the same period last year.

Nevertheless, the total sale value remained 30.1 percent higher than the S$26.37 million seen in H22011.

“While there is a substantial 30.1 percent increase in the total sale value in H12012, it is largely attributed to the sale of a petrol station along Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim, which was sold for S$12.73 million,“ said Grace Ng, Deputy Managing Director at Colliers International.

Meanwhile, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) reported that the value proportion of commercial and industrial properties auctioned in H12012 to date saw a new three-year high of 78 percent compared to 32 percent in H12010.

“This has come off the back of a sustained, and some may feel worrying, “herd-mentality” shift in investor interest toward the non-residential sector,” noted JLL.

However, the total value of residential properties sold during auctions stood at 22 percent in H12012, down from 28 percent in H12011 and 61 percent in H12010.

In the near future, the attractiveness of the non-residential sector could be reduced “given the elevated level of policy risk and clustering of investors into the sector”.

Source : PropertyGuru – 2012 Jun 28

Comments Off on Property auctions market sputters along

Posted in Auction, Property Market / Real Estate

Tagged , , , ,