Aalto at Meyer - Singapore - District 15 – 16

Aalto at Meyer - Singapore - District 15 – 16

Is located minutes from the gorgeous beaches of East Coast Park, Aalto is ideally sited prerogative the prestigious eastern precinct of Singapore. A minute’s drive to the neighbourhood retail of Parkway Parade, Aalto is only 10 min away from The Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort and the Singapore Flyer, and 15 minutes away from the Orchard near shopping belt. Simply endow, you can equate sure you’re never far from life’s conveniences and highlights.

Location: Meyer Road
District: 15
Tenure: Freehold
Developer: Hong Leong Holdings Ltd
TOP: 30 Nov 2012
Ruin Units: 196

Unit Types:
3BR ~ 1442 - 1550 sqft
4BR ~ 1959 - 2024 sqft
4 + 1 ~ 2443 sqft
Sub - penthouse ~ 3940 again 4424 sqft
Penthouse ~ 5425 besides 6017 sqft

Requisite Traits / Facilities:
Grand Entrance and Tower Entrance Drop - Off
Guardhouse
Water Termination
Jacuzzi
Sunning Lawn
Irrigate Jets and Souse Feature
Clubhouse: Function One’s turn, Gym and Lounge
Cascading Baptize Feature
Beach Auditorium To Assembly
Prerequisite Pool
Hydrotherapy Pool
Pool Deck
Children’s Conglomerate
Sky Bridge
Children’s Playground
BBQ Area
Powerful Room Again Steam Room
Tennis Court
Reflexology Footpath

Designed to exude a timeless architectural aesthetic, the two towers attribute curvilinear facades flowing seamlessly into the ground and specially lit circulation cores that inspire the two towers preoccupation vertical pillars of resplendent at night.

Indoors, every brief detail has been carefully addressed, ensuring that a moment - to - eternity experience is unlike occurrence too many. Prerogative addition, intelligently integrated outlook design besides a underground range of latest amenities establish an unrivalled outdoor environment.

Buy , Sell , Rent , invest Singapore Property

MINDY YONG

( +65 ) 91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com ( email me )

Ultra-posh Sentosa Cove villas to be launched early next year in Singapore

Ultra-posh Sentosa Cove villas to be launched early next year in Singapore

Sandy Island homes will boast celebrity designers and many exclusive features
By Joyce Teo, Property Correspondent
NO EXPENSE SPARED: To draw in the cream of the crop, Dr Wong (above) has roped in Armani store designer Claudio Silverstrin as lead architect for the Sandy Island villa project. — ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN

A LITTLE-KNOWN Malaysian businessman has pledged to take luxury living in Sentosa Cove to new heights with a collection of plush villas on Sandy Island.
Dr Derek Wong is building 18 homes aimed at ‘ultra-high’ net worth buyers, including foreign celebrities. The homes will range in size from about 6,500 sq ft to 12,000 sq ft, with prices likely to start at around $12 million.

‘It will be an island oasis with a tropical setting,’ said Dr Wong, the managing director of Genesis-Alliance, which won a tender to acquire Sandy Island in March for $89.7 million.

Genesis-Alliance is a joint venture between Malaysian conglomerate YTL Corp and LP Worlds, of which Dr Wong is the major shareholder.

Dr Wong’s residential projects in Malaysia are mainly mass-market ones developed by his firm LP Worlds.

He also owns the master dealership for audio firm Bang & Olufsen in Malaysia and is developing the US$100 million (S$147.5 million) condo The Palazzio in Kuala Lumpur with Malaysian developer Sunway City.

Dr Wong, who owns homes in Singapore, Malaysia and Australia, clearly knows something about style.

The dapper 53-year-old, who has a PhD in business science, has designed some of his own shoes and clothes. He also holds a franchise for the Armani/Casa store at the Raffles Hotel arcade.

It is the first outlet in South-east Asia to sell furniture and home accessories designed by fashion designer Giorgio Armani.

For Sandy Island, Dr Wong has roped in Italian consultant Claudio Silverstrin as lead architect while the landscaping will be done by Australian Jamie Durie, who appears on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Mr Silverstrin is the designer of Giorgio Armani stores around the world and his name would immediately ring a bell with Armani connoisseurs. As the villa project’s marketing manager, Mr Richard Leen, pointed out: ‘Our villas are aimed at those who have heard of Silverstrin.’

Each villa will be designed to offer plenty of privacy, with mature trees to be transplanted from other parts of Sentosa, and other vegetation lining the entrances and sides of the homes.

Each one will also have a berth for a boat and a pool. The bathrooms and kitchens will be custom-designed by Mr Silverstrin.

There will be a guard post at the Sandy Island entrance in the gated Sentosa Cove.

Unlike traditional homes, the Sandy Island villas, which will be launched early next year, will have a lean main door that opens out to the canal. And residents will be able to drive straight into the basement carpark - a rare feature for bungalows.

‘Nobody has gone through this trouble for a project,’ said Dr Wong.

He noted the timeliness of the project as Singapore’s upcoming integrated resorts have made the country more attractive to foreigners.

YTL and LP Worlds were in partnership to develop Lakefront Collection in Sentosa Cove. Acquired last September, this plot now comes under Genesis-Alliance and will be launched later next year
Source : Straits Times - 11 Oct 2007

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Mindy Yong
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mindy@mindyyong.com
http://www.hotvictory.com

Singapore Upper Pickering hotel site attracts record bid

Singapore Upper Pickering hotel site attracts record bid

By Jessica Cheam

A HOTEL site at Upper Pickering Street has drawn strong interest from developers, with the highest bid being a record one for such a property.
Nine bids had been submitted when the tender closed yesterday.

The top bidder - mainboard-listed Hotel Plaza - put in a price of $253.2 million for the 6,959 sq m site. Given the gross floor area of 29,227 sq m, this works out to about $805 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr).

Hotel Plaza is developer United Overseas Land’s hotel arm.

Hotel Plaza’s bid was 21 per cent higher than the second-highest bid of $209 million, or $664 psf ppr, placed by Park Plaza.

The record bid is at least 40 per cent higher than the prices paid for two hotel sites on Tanjong Pagar Road that were awarded recently, said CBRE Research’s executive director, Mr Li Hiaw Ho.

In June, a hotel site on Tanjong Pagar Road and Gopeng Street was awarded to Carlton Properties for $123 million, or $573 psf ppr.

A month later, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) awarded a hotel plot on Tras Street to businessman Chng Gim Huat of the CGH Group for $97.1 million, or $562 psf ppr.

‘The prevailing optimistic mood in the hotel and tourism markets could account for the record-high prices submitted for the Upper Pickering Street site,’ said CBRE’s Mr Li.

The 99-year leasehold site, launched for sale by the URA on July 18, is located in an ideal spot - at the junction of New Bridge Road and Upper Pickering Street and at the edge of the Central Business District - to cater to business travellers, said Mr Li.

Besides Hotel Plaza and Park Plaza, there were seven other bidders, including Hiap Hoe Superbowl and Ho Bee Investment.

Hotel Plaza currently owns and operates the 350-room Plaza Parkroyal, the adjoining The Plaza and the 337-room Grand Plaza Parkroyal Hotel, among others.

The group also has interests in hotels overseas.

The URA said yesterday that the bids will be evaluated and that the decision on the award will be made later
Source : Straits Times - 11 Oct 2007

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Mindy Yong
(+65)91002985
mindy@mindyyong.com
http://www.hotvictory.com

Number of Singapore pore millionaires could soar to 29,000 by 2011

Number of Singapore pore millionaires could soar to 29,000 by 2011

Their combined assets may swell to $125b, according to report by UK research firm
By Grace Ng

MEMBERSHIP in Singapore’s ‘millionaires club’ is skyrocketing, with the number of people holding at least US$1 million (S$1.48 million) in liquid assets expected to hit 29,000 by 2011.
That will be an increase of 7,000 - or about 7 per cent a year - while their combined wealth is expected to swell from US$64 billion now to US$85 billion (S$125.4 billion) in four years.

The figures come from a report entitled Wealth Management In Singapore 2007 from London-based research firm Datamonitor. Its financial services analyst, Mr David Lalich, said this outlook was particularly rosy, given that the world economy is expected to slow down in the next two years.

Singapore’s economy was expected to continue expanding, due to the robust financial services industry and a tourism boost from the upcoming integrated resorts. However, growth may be at a slower pace than in the period from 2004 to last year.

But the number of Singapore’s ultra-wealthy is likely to grow more than twice as fast as that in Britain, which may face an economic slowdown.

Bankers also noted that Singapore is likely to benefit from greater inflows of wealth from overseas markets, as investors look to diversify portfolios in safe havens such as Singapore, if there is a downturn in the United States.

Getting richer
While the number of millionaires in Singapore is set to rise by about 7 per cent annually, the growth rate is likely to lag behind that for Hong Kong, whose numbers will be boosted by the influx of well-heeled mainland Chinese.
A key driver of the projected growth in affluent people in Singapore will be the entry of foreign talent.

Mr Dennis Khoo, the general manager of Standard Chartered’s wealth management business, believes growth in assets under management for international private banking clients, who may live outside Singapore but who park huge sums in the country, could exceed 16 per cent annually.

However, the growth rate of Singapore’s millionaire population is still likely to lag behind that of Hong Kong.

The number of well-heeled people in Hong Kong is expected to grow by 9 per cent annually between now and 2011, due partly to the influx of well-heeled mainland Chinese.

Singapore will also be among the world leaders when it comes to increasing the number of affluent people - those who have US$60,000 or more in liquid assets to their name.

The number of affluent residents will grow from 410,000 last year to more than 600,000 by 2011, with the value of their assets ballooning from almost US$140 billion to US$210 billion, said Mr Lalich.

A key driver of this growth will be an influx of foreign talent, who are attracted to work in Singapore as entrepreneurs or professionals, especially in the financial sector, said Mr Khoo.

ABN Amro Singapore has been hiring relationship managers of different nationalities ‘to bridge the cultural gap’ for expatriate clients, said Mr Hans-Peter Borgh, the head of the bank’s unit serving wealthy clients.

Other drivers of wealth accumulation over the next two years will be rising interest rates and a volatile equities market.

These factors will mean strong growth in mutual funds in Singapore, as investors seek to diversify their money in different assets and markets, added Mr Lalich.
Source : Straits Times - 11 Oct 2007

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Mindy Yong
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mindy@mindyyong.com
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Singapore Economy trumps analysts’ forecasts with 9.4% growth

Singapore Economy trumps analysts’ forecasts with 9.4% growth

Strong 3rd quarter for construction and manufacturing puts full-year target within reach
By Erica Tay, Economics Correspondent
ST GRAPHIC: TIEN CHUNG PING

THE economy grew by a blistering 9.4 per cent in the third quarter, trumping analysts’ forecasts and beating the bumper numbers racked up in the previous three months.
Construction and manufacturing drove the rapid expansion, which has left the country well-placed to hit its official 7 per cent to 8 per cent growth forecast for the year.

‘The first three quarters this year saw an average 8.2 per cent growth. So the official forecast is very much in the bag,’ said Standard Chartered Bank economist Alvin Liew.

The figures - advanced estimates based largely on July and August data - were released by the Ministry of Trade and Industry yesterday.

They were higher than economists’ median forecasts of 9 per cent, and follow the 8.7 per cent expansion charted in the April to June period.

Construction and manufacturing grew by double-digits from a year ago, while growth in the services sector eased to 8.1 per cent from 8.4 per cent in the previous quarter. Financial services was again the star performer.

Deutsche Bank economists noted: ‘We think that the construction sector will provide continued impetus to growth in 2007 and 2008, while weaker external sector outlook will pose some downside risk.’

Also yesterday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) made a surprise move to allow the Singdollar to strengthen at a slightly faster pace.

The move, prompted by persistent inflationary pressure, took economists off guard.

They had expected no change to the exchange rate policy in the central bank’s biannual policy review.

A stronger currency helps to curb inflation by making imports cheaper.

The MAS is sticking to its policy of a ‘modest and gradual appreciation’ of the Singdollar against a basket of currencies, but it will ‘increase slightly’ the slope of its policy band - meaning a faster rate of appreciation.

The steeper Singdollar band ’signals that inflation concerns now outweigh growth concerns’, said StanChart’s Mr Liew.

In its outlook for this year and 2008, the MAS noted that growth prospects in the United States have weakened.

‘However, the global economy is expected to remain resilient, particularly in Asia, where domestic demand and regional trade should continue to be firm,’ it said.

The MAS predicts that Singapore’s economic growth will come within its potential of between 4 per cent and 6 per cent next year.

It projects that inflation will rise to about 3.5 per cent year-on-year in the first half of next year, partly due to July’s goods and services tax hike.

‘In the second half, inflation should ease and come in at 2 to 3 per cent for 2008 as a whole,’ it predicted.

The Government will release preliminary gross domestic product estimates for the third quarter based on more complete data next month.
Source : Straits Times - 11 Oct 2007

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest

Mindy Yong
(+65)91002985
mindy@mindyyong.com
http://www.hotvictory.com

Rising rents are now a business challenge in Singapore

Rising rents are now a business challenge in Singapore

Demand and supply mismatch has caused office rentals in the CBD to skyrocket
OFFICE rentals in the Central Business District (CBD) have been climbing relentlessly as a result of the demand and supply mismatch. Conversion of buildings for residential use and the redevelopment of ageing office blocks such as Ocean Building and Overseas Union House further exacerbate the office supply crunch.

Office squeeze: The Marina Bay Financial Centre will only be ready in a few years’ time, and the demand- supply imbalance is expected to continue till then
The high demand for office space, which is propelled by financial institutions and business services, continues to drastically outpace new supply. During the first half of this year, supply of office space decreased by about 290,000 sq ft due to the conversion of office space for other use. As a result, the market could not keep up with the 1.29 million sq ft of new demand.

The islandwide occupancy rate for office space rose to a 10-year high of 92 per cent, while Grade A office space in the CBD stood at an almost full occupancy rate of 99 per cent.

In a bid to ease the current office supply crunch, the government has came up with ’stop-gap supply-side’ measures such as disallowing the conversion of office space for other uses until the end of 2009, releasing more land for office development under the Government Land Sales programme, as well as offering vacant government buildings for lease as offices.

As most of the major office developments such as Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) will only be ready from 2009 onward, the demand-supply imbalance will continue for the time being. Rental hikes for better quality office space are expected.

Those that are feeling the heat are the smaller and medium-sized companies - both local and multinational corporations (MNCs). They have been leasing prime office space in the CBD area and are caught out by the spike in rentals. To them, coping with rising rentals represents a genuine business challenge.

Despite escalating rentals, foreign investment banks continue to snap up large office floor plates for expansion or relocation of their global operations hub. These financial institutions are eager to set up new offices in Singapore to meet the demands of Asia’s unprecedented growth in wealth management. One example is Standard Chartered Bank, which signed one of Singapore’s largest office-leasing deals in April. It leased about half a million sq ft of office space, equivalent to 24 floors at MBFC that is slated for completion in 2010.

Major office projects under development and expected to be up in the market in 2007 and 2008 include VisionCrest, Wilkie Edge, 200 Newton and Merrill Lynch Harbourfront, which is already fully leased.

Amid the current office property boom, one can still find cost-effective commercial rental options.

The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has been releasing vacant state properties and putting them up for lease as offices. A few successful bidders have refurbished the existing sites for renting out to corporate office users. The current rental for these space ranges between $4.00 and $8.50 per sq ft (psf).

Closer to the CBD, 150 Cantonment Road and 341 River Valley Road are expected to be ready for occupation in the final quarter of this year. 150 Cantonment Road has a smaller floor plate of about 6,800 sq ft per floor, while 341 River Valley can cater to tenants which need floor plates of about 50,000 sq ft.

Another spot of interest is the former ITE Pasir Panjang site at 991 Alexandra Road. This site, largest of all the properties released by SLA, can be converted into eight modern low-rise office blocks ranging from one to four storeys and offices ranging from 5,000 sq ft to 41,000 sq ft. Capitalising on the size, the successful bidder, Richzone, plans to create a self-sufficient office environment, complete with cafe and gym, decorated with a lush landscape that is different from a typical city office. This property will be ready for occupation in the first quarter of 2008.

On the other hand, some companies have decided to renew their contracts at higher rents. To cope with expansion, they have to rearrange their office space by reducing the size of workstations and/or decreasing filing space.

Others opt for relocation, even though it is a less preferred choice, in which a number of them split their operations - the main office remains in the CBD while operation personnel are relocated to the fringe areas or regional centres.

Wrapping up, rising office rental is a by-product of a buoyant economy. Operating costs are certainly higher as a consequence but so are more opportunities to generate revenue. At the end of the day, the effects of the existing office supply crunch are only short-term and they will ease as developments begin to come on stream. In the meantime, companies can help themselves by exploring all possibilities, and the good news is that cost-effective rental options are not lacking.

Source : Business Times - 11 Oct 2007

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest

Mindy Yong
(+65)91002985
mindy@mindyyong.com
http://www.hotvictory.com

Singapore En bloc site goes on sale for $2,800 psf ppr

Singapore En bloc site goes on sale for $2,800 psf ppr
WESTWOOD Apartments, the first luxury collective sale site to be launched after the recent changes to collective sales rules and the US sub-prime crisis, has an indicative price tag of $488 million.

Westwood Apartments: If the indicative price is achieved, the site could set a new benchmark price for collective sales here
This works out to $2,800 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) for the 62,179 sq ft site on Orchard Boulevard.

Marketed by Savills Singapore, its director of investment, Steven Ming, believes the price reflects the site’s proximity to Orchard Road and the surrounding luxury residences such as the St Regis Residences, Parkview Eclat, and Orchard Residences which have seen prices transacted in excess of $4,000 psf in recent months.

The site can be built up to 20 storeys and yield around 69 units of condominium apartments of 2,500 sq ft, added Mr Ming.

If the indicative price is achieved, Westwood Apartments could set a new benchmark price for collective sales here.

The present record holder is The Ardmore, acquired by SC Global in June for $262 million or $2,337 psf ppr.

Savills Singapore is also marketing Welkin Mansions in River Valley. Director of investment projects, Suzie Mok, expects the 26,000 sq ft site to fetch $1,800 psf ppr. This works out to be around $130 million.

The site can be built up to 36 storeys and yield about 48 units of around 1,500 sq ft.

Another unusual site that has been put up for sale is Northshore Bungalows in Ponggol.

The existing development comprises 20 units of bungalows and two plots of bungalow land with swimming pool and a clubhouse.

The 129,585 sq ft site has a plot ratio of 2.1 and is zoned for 2-storey bungalows.

Marketed by United Premas Ltd, Northshore Bungalows has an indicative price of $92.4 million, excluding development charges of $14 million.

United Premas reckons that the site can potentially accommodate about 72 units of resort-style strata titled bungalows which can be built up to two storeys with an attic, a basement and two basement car park lots.

Source : Business Times - 11 Oct 2007

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest

Mindy Yong
(+65)91002985
mindy@mindyyong.com
http://www.hotvictory.com

HDB prices likely to go up as unsold flats dwindle in Singapore

HDB prices likely to go up as unsold flats dwindle in Singapore

1,600 apply online for 489 flats offered in balloting/walk-in sale yesterday
By ARTHUR SIM
THE number of unsold Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats is getting smaller, with prices expected to go up.
HDB put up 489 flats in the North and West zones for sale yesterday through its Bi-monthly Combined Balloting/Walk-in sale exercise, and at the end of the day, over 1,600 online applications had been received.

The number of flats offered, however, is significantly smaller than in previous sale exercises.

In April, 1,269 flats were offered in the North and West zones, with 1,172 sold, reflecting a take-up rate of 92 per cent.

In June, 992 flats in the North-east zone were offered and 892 were sold - a take-up rate of 97 per cent.

A spokesman for HDB said: ‘HDB has managed to clear a significant part of its stock of unsold flats; fewer unsold flats are now avail- able for sale under HDB’s Bi-monthly Combined Balloting/Walk-in sale exercises.’

HDB said that it would continue to inject the balance stock from the Built-to-Order (BTO) and Balloting Exercises, and make them available for sale under the bi-monthly sale exercises.

‘However, the total flat supply offered under these exercises is not expected to number into the thousands as it did in the past, given the gradual reduction of the stock of unsold flats,’ said HDB.

HDB would not say if prices have been increased but added: ‘In pricing HDB flats, one major consideration is the affordability of flats. In addition,

HDB also takes into consideration factors such as changes in their market value, arising from factors such as buyer demand and prevailing conditions in the resale markets and, individual attributes of the flats.’

HDB also suggested that buyers look to the resale market, ‘if they are unable to find a new flat that suits their needs and preferences’.

The backlog of unsold flats was estimated at 9,000 in 2006.

Propnex CEO Mohamed Ismail believes that this has dwindled to less than 2,000 units.

Interestingly, Mr Mohamed believes that the previous glut of unsold flats came about because the value of resale flats had dropped to below valuation in the last slump.

Resale prices have, however, been rising, with the latest resale price index registering an increase of 6.5 per cent in Q3 ‘07, quarter-on-quarter.

And ERA Singapore assistant vice-president Eugene Lim believes that the ‘push down’ effect from the private market could price some buyers out.

These price-sensitive buyers will have to wait for the supply of about 4,500 new HDB flats offered under the BTO system, or the 1,500 units through the Design Build Sell Scheme, over the next six months.

Still, Mr Lim does not believe that there is a supply crunch at the lower end of the property market. ‘People are looking for value though,’ he added.

Source : Business Times - 11 Oct 2007

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest

Mindy Yong
(+65)91002985
mindy@mindyyong.com
http://www.hotvictory.com

Analysts play catch-up as economy stays hot In singapore

Analysts play catch-up as economy stays hot In singapore

They bump up forecasts following Q3 flash estimates of 9.4% growth
By CHEN HUIFEN

(SINGAPORE) The Singapore economy continued to power ahead in the third quarter, prompting several research houses to raise their growth forecasts for the whole year.
Flash estimates released by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) showed that the economy grew a sterling 9.4 per cent year-on-year last quarter, based on data from July and August. This is higher than the median forecast of 7.8 per cent among private sector economists polled by the Monetary Authority of Singapore recently.

The performance was fuelled by broad-based expansion across various sectors. The construction industry moderated to a growth of 15.5 per cent in Q3, from 18.8 per cent in Q2. And despite a lacklustre performance from the electronics cluster, the manufacturing industry managed 12.3 per cent growth, picking up momentum from the 8.3 per cent year-on-year gain in Q2. This was underpinned by the strong biomedical and transport engineering clusters.

The services sector eased to a 8.1 per cent gain, from 8.4 per cent in Q2. ‘Our sense is that financial services, information and communications as well as hotels and restaurants outperformed during the quarter,’ said Citigroup economist Chua Hak Bin. ‘Some modest slowdown was detected for wholesale and retail trade and sea transport activities.’

On a quarter-on-quarter, seasonally adjusted annualised basis, real GDP growth decelerated to 6.4 per cent from 14.4 per cent in Q2.
The headline figure takes the growth rate for the first nine months to 8.2 per cent, exceeding the official forecast of 7-8 per cent for the full year. Several economists that BT spoke to said that they were revising their full-year growth estimates, with one going as high as 8.7 per cent.

‘Although the advance estimates are below our expectations, we believe once the full set of data is in, 3Q ‘07 GDP could be revised up to the 10 per cent level, as year-to-date growth is already 8.2 per cent,’ CIMB-GK research head Song Seng Wun wrote in a report yesterday. ‘Hence, we are actually raising our full-year growth estimate from 7.5 per cent to 8.7 per cent.’

The team at Citigroup has upgraded its 2007 growth forecast to 8 per cent, from 7.2 per cent previously. Similarly, Standard Chartered Bank economist Alvin Liew is raising his forecast to 8 per cent, from 7.6 per cent, while UOB is looking at 8.4 per cent growth for the full year.

‘The preliminary estimate for manufacturing growth of 12.3 per cent year on year in 3Q factors in a modest 2 per cent year-on-year growth in the industrial output for the month of September after 18.1 per cent year-on-year expansion in July-August,’ said a UOB report. ‘This suggests that actual GDP growth for the quarter could potentially surprise on the upside should the biomedical sector continue its robust expansion in September.’

While many are keeping an eye on rising prices, some said that the risks of the economy overheating are low - at least for the time being.

‘If you look at asset prices, inflation, wage increases in the last two quarters, there does seem to be some risks of overheating,’ said Stanchart’s Mr Liew. ‘But I don’t foresee an overheating situation, at least for the next three quarters until mid-2008.

‘For one, we can see that there’s a lot of domestic driven activities. And even though we had achieved fairly high growth, the manufacturing sector isn’t the one that’s pushing it. So it’s not an export-oriented kind of growth story this time round.’

UOB economist Ho Woei Chen said that the risks of overheating could be tempered by the slowdown in the US economy. ‘We are not so concerned about overheating because there’s some downside risks to the global growth outlook going forward,’ she said. Besides, the steeper appreciation of the S$NEER slope, announced by the MAS yesterday, could help cap imported inflation to a certain extent, she added.

HSBC, which last week cautioned against an overheating Singapore economy, is maintaining a growth estimate of 8.5 per cent. In a report titled Easy, tiger, it argued that the economy is showing signs of overheating, with wages rising at a seven-year high of 8.5 per cent, office rents jumping 50 per cent, and the consumer price index hitting a 12-year high.

Citigroup’s Dr Chua also suggested overheating pressures were looming. ‘Tightness is apparent in labour and property markets, with wage costs, office rents and residential rents all rising strongly,’ he wrote in a report on Monday.

The market probably reacted on fears that there may be more tightening measures ahead, following an adjustment to the S$NEER slope yesterday. The Straits Times Index shed more than 50 points to end the day’s trading at 3,814.45.

‘The market has also run up quite considerably,’ said Dr Chua. ‘I suppose there may be some concerns as well that a stronger Singapore dollar could probably hurt exports. So it’s a combination of factors.’
Source : Business Times - 11 Oct 2007

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest

Mindy Yong
(+65)91002985
mindy@mindyyong.com
http://www.hotvictory.com