Sales of new Singapore private residential homes fall by 64% in August

Sales of new Singapore private residential homes fall by 64% in August

By Wong Siew Ying,

SINGAPORE: Sales of new private residential homes slipped 64 per cent to 320 units in August, as compared to over 890 units sold in July.

Market watchers say this is the weakest transaction volume since April 2008.

At the peak of the property boom in August 2007, over 1,700 units of private homes were sold, and the 320 units sold in August 2008 was 81 per cent lower year-on-year.

However, the low take-up was not unexpected as it fell during the Hungry Ghosts’ Festival - a season typically marked by sluggish demand.

Supply was also tight with only 194 new units launched by developers in August, mainly in the central regions.

Head of research & consultancy at Jones Lang LaSalle, Dr Chua Yang Liang, said, “There is a latent demand out there which we estimate is between 350 to 400 units per month. The number of launches are incidentally quite good in the rest of central and the core central regions as these are largely foreign based markets, so there is a lot more transactions there.”

Industry watchers are predicting more mass market projects to be launched in the fourth quarter, with some good quality units and attractive prices expected.

The recent reduction in development charges by the Government could also rally the property sector.

Managing director of Cushman & Wakefield, Donald Han, said, “In the next six months we probably expect some of the land (the) government tenders to be able to record lower prices.

“That may help developers to start creeping into the market on the basis of slight savings of land prices, (and it) may go a long way in subsidising the increase in terms of your construction cost.”

Price-wise, observers say the numbers have remained fairly stable in August.

Moving forward, they project a slight downward correction in overall home prices of between 3 and 8 per cent.

Analysts say the weakening global financial markets and inflation have cast a shadow over consumer confidence. Still, they expect the current market trend to hold, over the next few months.

Although the credit and housing troubles in the US show no sign of bottoming out, observers say Singapore’s property sector will be able to weather the storm in the near term.

-CNA/yt

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 15 Sept 2008

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Transient tenants may face trouble from next-door

Transient tenants may face trouble from next-door

MORE MONEY IN SHORT STAYS: ‘In the last two years, the demand for short-term leases has increased 15 to 20 per cent, judging from the increase in our revenues from that sector.’ - Mr Eric Cheng, a veteran property investor and the senior managing director of property development and lifestyle group ECG Group of Companies — ST PHOTO: SAMUEL HE

MATCHING short-term landlords with temporary tenants seems like a win-win situation all round.
But sometimes, there is a third party involved - the neighbour.

‘Occasionally you have one or two nasty neighbours, nosy people who don’t like short-term tenants,’ said Mr Jonathan Ho.

In one case, he rented out an apartment at Spottiswoode Park to a medical tourist receiving treatment at the nearby Singapore General Hospital, on behalf of the home’s owner who was in China at the time.

But just three days into the lease, a neighbour complained to the owner’s wife, who was in Singapore, that there were foreigners living in the apartment.

‘The owner’s wife didn’t know her husband was renting out short-term, so she shouted at me and wanted to chase out the tenants on the spot,’ Mr Ho recalled.

‘Just because the neighbours are nosy and put ideas into her head that the foreigners could be illegal.’

Mr Ho tried to clarify things but the owner’s wife insisted that the tenants leave, so he had to cancel the lease.

But he said this is a rare case. ‘Maybe because Spottiswoode Park is an older development, so most of the residents are used to their neighbours and don’t like strangers.’

Indeed, most landlords say residents in the prime areas, where developments are heavily occupied by expats, are fine with short-term tenants as neighbours.

This is the case at Casuarina Cove in Tanjong Rhu, where a three-bedroom apartment is up for a six to 10 month rental while its new owners serve out their own lease elsewhere before moving in.

An expat housewife from Britain, who would only give her name as Mary, said that most of her neighbours at Casuarina Cove are expats with transient stays.

‘People coming and going is all a way of life, isn’t it?’ she said. ‘When they’re here, the neighbours are all quite friendly.’

Source : Straits Times - 15 Sept 2008

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Singapore MM Lee out of hospital

Singapore MM Lee out of hospital

MINISTER Mentor Lee Kuan Yew was yesterday discharged from the Singapore General Hospital after being successfully treated for an abnormal heart rhythm.
Mr Lee, who turns 85 tomorrow, was warded for a day for atrial flutter, which is not uncommon among people of his age.

Doctors have pronounced his condition to be stable, said the Prime Minister’s Office.

He has been advised to resume his official schedule gradually.

Despite being hospitalised, the Minister Mentor kept his appointment with an international philanthropy forum at the Arts House on Saturday night, addressing the participants for five minutes through a video link.

Mr Lee, who had two operations in 1996 to clear a blocked heart artery, is known to exercise regularly.

In an e-mail interview with The Straits Times last week, he said he cycles and swims daily and eats moderately to keep in shape.

Source : Straits Times - 15 Sept 2008

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Thailand State of emergency lifted in Bangkok

Thailand State of emergency lifted in Bangkok

(BANGKOK) Acting Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat lifted the state of emergency in Bangkok yesterday, imposed 12 days earlier, saying the measure had only served to scare away tourists.

Mr Somchai urged all sides in the deepening political standoff to compromise and help restore the country’s image as ‘the land of smiles’.

‘If we continue the state of emergency it could damage the country’s economy,’ Mr Somchai said after meeting the army chief and other senior security officials.

Analysts expect battered Thai stocks to move higher today, though gains are expected to be short-lived as the country’s political crisis drags on.

Emergency rule was imposed by the government on Sept 2 after a night of violent clashes between anti-government supporters and opponents left one man dead and dozens injured.

Calm was quickly restored. The emergency decree had no real impact on the Thai capital, where business and daily life continued as normal. The army refused to exercise its authority under the decree to oust tens of thousands of protesters from the prime minister’s compound, where they have been camped in tents since Aug 26.

But images of the mayhem were broadcast around the world, prompting several countries to issue travel advisories that had a numbing effect on tourists who are crucial to the economy.

The stock market has fallen about 25 per cent since anti-government protesters started their campaign with street demonstrations in May. So far this year, foreign investors sold a net 114.5 billion baht (S$4.7 billion) of Thai shares.

On Friday, the index rose 1.2 per cent, a few hours before former prime minister Samak Sundaravej’s aide said that Mr Samak would not be a candidate when the Thai parliament votes this week.

‘We have to restore outsiders’ confidence, especially tourists, that we are a peaceful country and have no more conflict,’ Mr Somchai said. ‘I am confident that all parties concerned will soften their stance and come to a compromise.’

The spirit of compromise will be tested this week as Parliament seeks - for a second time - to elect a new prime minister who will be acceptable to all sides.

Mr Samak, who took office after the December elections, was forced to resign on Sept 9 when the Constitutional Court ruled that he had violated conflict-of-interest laws by accepting money to host TV cooking shows while in office.

Mr Samak’s allies in the People’s Power Party, the main component in a six-party governing coalition, have so far failed to reach a consensus on who should replace him.

The PPP had hoped to renominate Mr Samak when Parliament convened last Friday in an initial attempt to choose his successor. But the vote was boycotted by 70 party members and PPP’s coalition partners.

The PPP insists it will nominate one of its members for the premiership. Three names have emerged as possible candidates, including Acting Prime Minister Somchai, who was deputy prime minister and education minister in Mr Samak’s Cabinet and is a brother-in-law of Mr Thaksin; Justice Minister Sompong Amornwiwat, a veteran but low-profile politician; and Finance Minister Surapong Seubwonglee, another deputy prime minister and finance minister and a Thaksin confidante.

Mr Somchai said two coalition partners, the Puea Pandin and Pracharaj parties, had agreed to support whoever the PPP chose as candidate. ‘The parties said it is the PPP’s right to nominate the candidate for the prime minister position,’ he told reporters after a meeting yesterday afternoon with the parties.

None of the three is likely to appease anti-government protesters, whose initial goal was to oust Mr Samak but now say they won’t accept any successor from his party.

The protest group, which calls itself the People’s Alliance for Democracy, is a mixture of monarchists, members of the military and the urban elite.

‘Removing the state of emergency has no effect on our rally because it does not solve the current problems in Thai politics,’ said an alliance spokesman, Parnthep Wongpuapan. ‘We will stay here and we will continue calling for the current system to be cleaned up.’ - AP, Reuters, AFP

Source : Straits Times - 15 Sept 2008

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In hospital, but Singapore MM keeps date with forum

In hospital, but Singapore MM keeps date with forum

He says the successful must care about the less well-off to ensure a cohesive society

By Clarissa Oon, Political Correspondent

Despite being hospitalised for an abnormal heart rhythm yesterday, MM Lee spoke at the Global UBS Philanthropy Forum held at The Arts House via a video link last night.

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew was warded for an abnormal heart rhythm at the Singapore General Hospital yesterday.
But despite being hospitalised, he managed to keep his date with the Global UBS Philanthropy Forum last night, addressing the 200 participants at the Arts House via video link.

In his five-minute speech, he stressed the importance of successful individuals giving back to society, to ensure that a widening income gap does not lead to a society losing cohesiveness.

He began by apologising to the audience of social entrepreneurs and civil society representatives for not being able to be with them in person.

‘Unlike Kim Jong Il who says he is well but has not appeared, I thought I’d better say hello to you and to your guests and apologise for not being able to join you,’ Mr Lee quipped, referring to the reclusive North Korean leader who missed the country’s 60th anniversary celebrations last week, reportedly because he had a stroke.

A statement from his office said Mr Lee experienced atrial flutter yesterday morning, an abnormal heart rhythm not uncommon among people of his age. He turns 85 on Tuesday.

Speaking from his hospital room, he told the forum: ‘They have put it right, but they want to keep on monitoring me tonight to make sure it stays right.’

On the issue of philanthropy, he noted that this was one of the keys to the health of American society. Many successful entrepreneurs there, for example, Bill and Melinda Gates, and investor Warren Buffett, use their wealth to give the poor a leg up.

Mr Lee cited a recent meeting he had with New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, during which he asked the billionaire what he planned to do with his wealth.

‘He said, ‘My children will not need it. I am giving them just enough to get them started, the rest is going to charity’.’

‘Asia must go that way if we are to keep our societies in one piece,’ said Mr Lee.

This is because in today’s globalised marketplace, the income gap is widening and it could take 10 to 20 years before the less successful catch up.

During that period, ‘unless the successful show that they have compassion, sympathy, empathy for the less successful, it will be difficult to keep the cohesiveness of society together’.

This is especially so for big countries like China and India, where rapid economic development has widened the gap between the haves and have-nots.

The philanthropy rate in Singapore, measured as a proportion of gross domestic product, is only a fraction that of the United States’, noted Mr Lee, adding that the government is trying to increase it for instance by giving donations double tax deductions.

‘If we don’t have the successful showing that they care for the welfare of the unsuccessful, it is difficult to keep the Singapore team together,’ he said.

MM Lee is expected to resume his normal schedule within the next few days, said the Prime Minister’s Office.

Source : Straits Times - 15 Sept 2008

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Singapore Bloggers speak out against public transport fare hike

Singapore Bloggers speak out against public transport fare hike

By Jamie Ee Wen Wei

The 90-minute protest included speakers such as National Solidarity Party politician Goh Meng Seng. — ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

They are used to airing their views online.
But yesterday, some bloggers chose the real world to speak out on a hot-button issue - the public transport fare hike announced on Friday.

Their 90-minute protest, organised by socio-political blog The Online Citizen (TOC), was the second held in Hong Lim Park since rules on public demonstrations were relaxed on Sept 1. It drew a crowd of about 150 people.

The first protest, held on Sept 1, drew only 20 people. The issue tackled then by non-profit group Hearer of Cries was maid abuse.

Yesterday, National University of Singapore (NUS) law undergraduate Choo Zheng Xi, chief editor of TOC’s website, spoke first. He called the transport fare hikes a ‘recurring nightmare’.

Former Workers’ Party (WP) candidate James Gomez argued that the transport woes were exacerbated by the ‘large volume of people brought into the country’.

Financial analyst and local blogger Leong Sze Hian said the transfer rebate cost would be borne by commuters making direct journeys. He added: ‘Who are the ones who take direct services? The poor!’

Earlier in the week, the TOC had released to the media a 10-page report, with recommendations to improve the transport system. Yesterday, 50 copies were given out.

Many in the crowd yesterday were professionals and undergraduates who occasionally cheered at points well made or laughed at jokes cracked.

Mr Jonathan Kwok, 24, a final- year NUS student pursuing an economics major, turned up because he felt the fare hike was ‘unfair’.

But he was not convinced by all that he heard. ‘Some of the speakers were too emotional. They were just blasting the Government without offering alternatives,’ he said.

Ms Cheong Kah Shin, 20, a third-year communications studies student from Nanyang Technological University, was more forgiving. ‘The suggestions may not work but they give Singaporeans something to think about,’ she said.

Mr Ravi Philemon, 40, a social worker, had his children, aged 15 and 13, with him. They had even prepared protest placards. He said: ‘I don’t think the fare hikes are necessary because the transport operators make enough profits.’

Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong and former Non-Constituency MP Steve Chia were also there.

TOC’s deputy editor Andrew Loh took the opportunity to respond to a Straits Times report on its proposal yesterday.

Referring to the report which said that MP Ong Kian Min ’seemed underwhelmed’ by TOC’s proposal, he told the crowd: ‘We are not trying to overwhelm or underwhelm anyone. It’s (the proposal) not perfect, it’s not exhaustive, but we are quite proud of it honestly.’

Source : Straits Times - 14 Sept 2008

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