Nhan Dan Online – Singapore’s headquartered CapitaLand Group, the largest listed real estate company in South Ease Asia, on February 27 affirmed its increasing presence in Vietnam, which it considered as one of its key Asian markets, through forming a strategic partnership with a local partner to provide a pipeline of properties and setting up a US $300 million development fund to invest in real estate projects in Vietnam.

CapitaLand signed a Statement of Strategic Intent with its local Vietnamese partner, Nam Thang Long Investment Joint-Stock Company, to form a strategic alliance to seek further business opportunities in Vietnam with a real estate focus. Nam Thang Long Investment Joint-Stock Company will seek and explore potential business opportunities in Vietnam; and together with CapitaLand, develop residential properties and commercial/residential mixed developments.

CapitaLand also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Citi Private Bank, one of the world’s largest wealth managers, to set up a real estate development fund to invest in Vietnam. The target fund size is US $300 million and it will be marketed to Citi Private Bank’s wide network of sophisticated and high net worth investors, who are increasingly interested in investments in high growth economies like Vietnam.

Addressing the signing ceremony, Mr Liew Mun Leong, President & CEO of CapitaLand Group, said: “We see vast opportunities in the Vietnam real estate market, driven by the country’s strong macro-economic growth and rapid urbanisation. Our aim is to deepen CapitaLand’s presence in Vietnam to become a significant long term real estate player here”. He said CapitaLand was confident of doubling their residential pipeline in Vietnam from the present 2,800 homes to about 6,000 in the next three years.

Singaporean President S.R. Nathan, who is on a five-day official visit to Vietnam, attended the signing ceremony.

CapitaLand ‘s core businesses in real estate, hospitality and real estate financial services are focused in gateway cities in Asia Pacific, Europe and the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries. The company's real estate and hospitality portfolio spans more than 100 cities in over 20 countries. CapitaLand also leverages on its significant real estate asset base, financial skills and market knowledge to develop real estate financial products and services in Singapore and the region.

The listed subsidiaries and associates of CapitaLand include The Ascott Group, Australand, CapitaMall Trust, CapitaCommercial Trust, Ascott Residence Trust, CapitaRetail China Trust and Quill Capita Trust.

Capital Land made its first investment in Vietnam’s residential market in February 2006. Its first residential project in Vietnam, the Vista, was launched in Ho Chi Minh City in 2007. In addition, it is committed to develop three other projects with a pipeline of 2,800 homes in Ho Chi Minh City.

INTERNATIONAL. Singapore is setting out to present an in-depth outlook at the real estate market from empirical evidence drawn from a number of factors. A two day intensive conference next month aims to inform, empower and prepare those taking the decision to invest in the Lion City.

'Market Truths Singapore - Singapore Property Growth & Profitability' will take place from 27-28 March at the Four Seasons Hotel, Singapore.

The event is suitable for the public, private investors and corporates from the real estate world, including institutional investors & private investors, investment bankers & asset managers, brokers, developers, property and international financing lawyers, and relocation consultants.

Delegates can register online via the event website at www.mtconferences.com

NEW DELHI: A new Singapore-based realty channel Property TV is coming up this March and will run an office in India from Noida. However, the channel will not go for downlinking in the country at least till September.

A deal is going to be signed early this week between the channel's Singapore owners and Indian counterpart, IndiaNivesh, which is reportedly the "mother company" of Luminaire Technologies Ltd, a source says.

While the details of the formation of the holding company and the alliances being worked out in Singapore are not available, sources indicate that the parties involved include Luminaire, IndiaNivesh and the Singapore mega-broadcast company TV Broadcast Pte Ltd.

IndiaNivesh has recently bought 33.54 per cent of the total paid-up share capital of Luminaire, which is a major producer of TV hardware.
NEW DELHI: A new Singapore-based realty channel Property TV is coming up this March and will run an office in India from Noida. However, the channel will not go for downlinking in the country at least till September.

A deal is going to be signed early this week between the channel's Singapore owners and Indian counterpart, IndiaNivesh, which is reportedly the "mother company" of Luminaire Technologies Ltd, a source says.

While the details of the formation of the holding company and the alliances being worked out in Singapore are not available, sources indicate that the parties involved include Luminaire, IndiaNivesh and the Singapore mega-broadcast company TV Broadcast Pte Ltd.

IndiaNivesh has recently bought 33.54 per cent of the total paid-up share capital of Luminaire, which is a major producer of TV hardware.

Spillover demand from nearby districts and rumours of collective sales push prices up

THE buzz in the property market these days is all about the price recovery in the suburban areas.

Cheaper private homes on the outskirts of town are seeing a rebound in prices and rentals, as the strong market sentiment at the top end filters down.

Homebuyers have started turning out in force for these entry-level condominiums. Many have sold en bloc and are seeking replacement units.

Apart from the central Orchard Road area, a popular collective sale district is the East Coast, which has seen nearby Upper East Coast Road become one of the biggest hot spots for home seekers.

Some projects in the district, which stretches from Upper East Coast Road to Bedok North Avenue 4, have rocketed in price, by up to 65 per cent, since January.

Figures from consultancy Savills Singapore show that overall home prices in the area climbed by 20 per cent to 65 per cent between January and August, depending on the specific street.

This compares with a rise of about 10.3 per cent for all suburban areas in the first six months of this year, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

But Savills’ director of business development and marketing, Mr Ku Swee Yong, was quick to add that some of the Upper East Coast projects have seen such large jumps in price because of ‘collective sale rumours’.

‘The general price increase is nowhere near 65 per cent overall,’ he said.

Rentals in the Upper East Coast have also soared, supporting the price increases. Average asking rents jumped 13.7 per cent in July and August, on top of a 4.7 per cent rise in the previous three months, said

Savills. They average $3.07 per sq ft (psf), or about $3,000 for a 1,000 sq ft unit.

Mr Ku noted that the Upper East Coast is benefiting from a spillover in demand from nearby Districts 14 and 15, which include Marine Parade, Katong and Telok Kurau.

Several estates there have gone en bloc, forcing the sellers to seek new homes. Many of them have been priced out of the increasingly expensive East Coast properties, so they have shifted their focus to cheaper homes further east.

This situation is similar to that in town, where city-fringe areas such as Newton and Novena have benefited from the record number of collective sales in the Orchard Road area and its surroundings, said Mr Ku.

He added that even more developments in the vicinity are expected to go en bloc soon. These could include Ocean Park, Rich East Gardens, Bagnall Court and the two Eastern Lagoons.

Apart from the collective sale draw, Mr Ku noted that the Upper East Coast profits from its proximity to Changi Airport and East Coast Park, as well as various golf courses, including Tanah Merah Country Club and Laguna National Country Club. All these are attractive to ‘mobile professionals’, he said.

He predicts that by the end of next year, new benchmark prices will be achieved for the area. These could go up to $1,100 psf for the Bedok South Avenue 3 and Bedok Camp areas, and up to $1,700 psf from Siglap Centre to Bedok South Avenue 1.



Source: The Sunday Times 30 Sept 07

[size=12][size=10]PRICES of both public and private homes in Singapore, continuing the upward trend, reached their highest level in a decade, early government estimates for the period July to September showed on Monday.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said the price index for private residential properties rose 8 per cent, while that for HDB homes jumped 6.5 per cent for the same period.

The third-quarter gain for private homes follows an 8.3 per cent rise in the last quarter, and comes amid moves by the government to stabilise the property market by revising development charges, and tightening rules of collective sales.

Prices of non-landed private homes in the core region - which includes districts 9, 10 and 11 - went up 8.3 per cent, while in the rest of the central region it rose 7.7 per cent, and in the Outside Central Region, by 8.1 per cent.

The URA also said that about 43,000 new units of private housing are expected to be completed in the second half of 2010. Of these, about 19,000 units of these (46 per cent) have not been launched for sale by developers yet.

The URA is currently reviewing its Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme for the first half of next year and will announce details by year end.

It assured home buyers that there is an ‘ample pipeline supply of private housing’ and advised them to take this into consideration in their property decisions.

‘The government will continue to monitor prices closely,’ the URA said, adding that ‘the government will make available more sites for private residential development’ next year if demand remained strong.

Separately, the HDB also said on Monday that it will be increasing the supply of new flats, with 4,500 new units under its Build-To-Order system to come on stream in the next six months.

The jump in HDB home prices comes after a 3 per cent rise in the last quarter - which was until now, the biggest quarter-on-quarter increase since 1999.

The HDB added that it plans to release three new Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) sites with a combined yield of about 1,500 units in central and eastern Singapore over the same period - subject to market demand.

The advance estimates are compiled from transaction prices lodged during the first 10 weeks of the quarter as well as data from new apartments that have been booked.


URA and HDB’s official third-quarter statistics will be released at the end of October.



Source: The Straits Times 1 Oct 07[/size][/size]