Private home sales up 29% in April

Private home sales up 29% in April

By Julie Quek | Posted: 16 May 2011 1324 hrs
SINGAPORE: Sales of private residential properties increased in April.

1,788 private homes were sold last month, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Monday.

That’s a 29 percent month-on-month increase from the 1,386 units sold in March.

Including Executive Condominiums (ECs), total sales would have reached an even more impressive figure of 1,901.

Chalking up the best sales was Eight Courtyards at Yishun Avenue 7, which sold 340 units at a median price of S$789 per square foot.

The best selling EC was the Prive at Punggol Road, which sold 34 units at a median price of S$682 per square foot.

Meanwhile, the most expensive property sold in April was at The Orchard Residences at Orchard Boulevard, where a unit was sold at a median price of S$4,799 per square foot.

- CNA/ir

 
Source : Channel NewsAsia – MediaCorp Pte Ltd Copyright

MM, SM may still be approached for advice: MPs »« Residential site opposite Parkway Parade up for sale

Residential site opposite Parkway Parade up for sale

Residential site opposite Parkway Parade up for sale

By Stella Lee / Jo-ann Huang | Posted: 09 May 2011 1740 hrs

SINGAPORE: A residential site sitting on a land area of about half a football field opposite Parkway Parade is up for sale by tender.

The 47,400 square foot site on 37 East Coast Road holds a 113-year-old former beachside villa which has been identified for conservation by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. Thus, developers are required by law to keep part of the villa intact.

The villa has an estimated gross floor area of 3,100 square feet and the premises include a three-storey block of six apartments and a servant quarters. It was built by the late Choa Kim Keat, after whom Kim Keat Road in Balestier, is named.

Mr Choa was a key figure in the early days of Straits Trading Company, one of the oldest public-listed firms in Singapore. He was also the husband of the late Mr Tan Tock Seng’s granddaughter.

Property consultant Credo Real Estate said the new site may be redeveloped into 100 units of residential high rise condos of 1,000 square feet each with the conservation villa integrated into the development.

Mr Karamjit Singh, Managing Director for Credo Real Estate said the new owners would have a piece of Singapore’s history to their estate as the conservation bungalow lends an interesting and unique charm.

According to URA guidelines, the site has a gross plot ratio ratio of 2:1 and the developer of the site will be able to build up to 24 storeys and a total gross floor area of over 100,000 square foot.

The subject site is located in the prime District 15 area close to Marine Parade Central, and is popular with both local and foreign upper middle class families.

Mr Karamjit Singh, Managing Director for Credo Real Estate expects that offers for the site will be between S$100 million to S$110 million, based on an equivalent land rate of S$1,125 to S$1,216 price per square foot.

The tender for the site will close at 2.30pm on June 6.

-CNA/ac

Source : Channel NewsAsia – MediaCorp Pte Ltd Copyright

Private home sales up 29% in April »« Top priority is to improve lives of Singaporeans: PM

Top priority is to improve lives of Singaporeans: PM

Top priority is to improve lives of Singaporeans: PM

by S Ramesh 04:46 AM May 10, 2011

SINGAPORE – During the 2009 financial crisis, the Government had to use, in some instances, potentially the entire quantum of Singapore’s financial reserves to back the Singapore dollar. The strategy worked and Singapore was able to weather the financial storm, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday.

“We relied on them (the reserves) to give confidence and to back our guarantees and our support for the Singapore Dollar and the banking system – not just with a few billion dollars but tens of billions of dollars or, in some cases, potentially with all the reserves that we had, so that nobody would be tempted to give it a try and see whether we would run out of ammunition before they did,” Mr Lee said in a speech at the 30th anniversary of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) yesterday.

It was his first public function after the May 7 General Election, which saw the People’s Action Party returned to power with 60.1 per cent of the vote, the lowest ever for the party.

During the election campaign, some Opposition parties had suggested drawing down billions of dollars of the reserves so that Singaporeans could enjoy more subsidies on transport, health care and housing, among other areas.

In a signal that maintaining strong reserves will continue to be a key pillar of the Government’s strategy, Mr Lee said: “We need to hold fast to these prudent policies and to maintain and continue gradually to build up these reserves for a rainy day. What reserves we have accumulated, we have to invest prudently and shrewdly with a long-term view.”

The GIC, he added, plays a key role in safeguarding and growing the reserves.

Of his newly-elected Government, Mr Lee said it has its work cut out for it. Noting that the Government’s overriding priority is to improve the lives of its citizens, Mr Lee outlined some ways in which his Government plans to go about doing it.

The first is to grow the economy by staying plugged into the world. This will be done by attracting investments and talent to Singapore and encourage Singaporean enterprises to diversify, expand and move abroad, Mr Lee said.

The second target is to transform and upgrade the economy. Mr Lee said: “We can’t grow just by volume, by quantity, by increasing our workforce indefinitely. There has to be some growth in the workforce over time … but our objective is also to improve incomes across the board.

“We are interested in per capita GDP and not just total GDP, and we want to improve incomes across the board and that includes the middle-income households and the lower-income households at the lower end …”

To achieve this, the workforce must upgrade its productivity. “… That means very challenging tasks in the next 10 years, to retrain workers now in the workforce so that they can be more productive and do better jobs, to educate future workers for the new economy so that when they come out of the education system, they are job ready and deployable,” Mr Lee said.

Another key challenging task is to restructure Singapore’s industries so that the country is not frozen in an economic or industrial structure adapted to the world of five or 10 years ago.

The Prime Minister stressed that inclusive growth is needed. “We have many different forms of assistance for vulnerable groups, but it goes beyond specific items where you can calculate dollars and cents, to a sense of reassurance, concern and empathy and a sense that we are in the same boat together, we will take care of one another and we are going to make this together, sink or swim,” Mr Lee said.

Mr Lee said he is upbeat about Singapore’s prospects over the next 10 years. However, he added global uncertainties will be the “new norm”, and Singapore has to be cautious since there is no magic formula for success.

Source : TODAYonline – MediaCorp Press Ltd’s copyright

Residential site opposite Parkway Parade up for sale »« Be forward-looking and bold, MM Lee tells GIC

Be forward-looking and bold, MM Lee tells GIC

Be forward-looking and bold, MM Lee tells GIC

by Neo Chai Chin 04:47 AM May 10, 2011

SINGAPORE – The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) must eschew the impetus to follow convention as it grows larger and more established, as this could lead to mediocrity, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew (picture) said yesterday.

Instead, the sovereign wealth fund must continue to develop the courage and capacity to make the right decisions, even if they are at times unconventional, he said at the GIC’s 30th anniversary dinner last night at Shangri-La Hotel.

The GIC was an “early investor” in real estate and an early mover in emerging markets. And when it was established in 1981, some even considered it irresponsible to invest Singapore’s foreign reserves in risky assets such as equities, Mr Lee noted.

“GIC must have the courage and conviction to take original, bold, strategic and forward-looking decisions. It must continue to be resourceful and adaptable,” Mr Lee said. “As GIC grows larger and more established, the impetus to follow conventional practices will grow stronger. This could lead to mediocrity.”

The GIC now has more than 1,000 staff in nine offices worldwide. Its returns have outpaced global inflation by a “comfortable margin” and are comparable to the 10.2-per-cent annual returns (in nominal US dollar terms since 1981) by high-return asset class equities, despite less risk taken, said Mr Lee.

The next 30 years look challenging, and investment outlook could be “less benign”. But “in uncertain times, we must maintain certainty of purpose and thoughtfulness in direction, remaining true to our core values”, he said.

Besides the courage to be unconventional, the GIC must continue to hire and retain the best talent, maintain the highest reputation for itself and capitalise on its global reach, multi-asset class capabilities and long-term perspective, he added.

The economic and investment environment of the future appears “unusually uncertain” – global financial markets grow more complex and the rise of emerging economies such as China and India will change geopolitical dynamics and put immense pressure on natural resources and the environment.

These will drive policy and technological changes that will create new long-term investment opportunities and risk, Mr Lee said.

Reminding the audience why GIC is important to Singapore, Mr Lee said national reserves are a buffer for Singapore in downturns like in 2009, and a strong national balance sheet fosters investors’ confidence and enhances stability of the Singapore dollar. Income from the reserves also supplements Government revenues, he noted.

When GIC was established, it reflected the high priority by the Government, especially then Deputy Prime Minister Goh Keng Swee, to manage the Republic’s reserves “more rationally, strategically and professionally”.

Said Mr Lee: “Nobody knows what the future holds. GIC has done well over the last 30 years and, if it stays true to its original vision and values, GIC can continue to do well over the next 30 years.”

Source : TODAYonline – MediaCorp Press Ltd’s copyright

Top priority is to improve lives of Singaporeans: PM »« Osama shot dead

Osama shot dead

Osama shot dead

Death a boost to global anti-terror fight but …

04:46 AM May 03, 2011

WASHINGTON – The sound of a big explosion at the three-storey, fortress-like house in Abbottabad, a popular summer resort in Pakistan, jolted residents from their slumber at 1.15am (local time) on Monday. “We rushed to the rooftop and saw flames near that house,” said a man who lives nearby.

Another resident, Mr Nasir Khan, said commandos encircled the compound as helicopters hovered overhead.

“All of a sudden, there was firing towards the helicopters from the ground. There was intense firing,” said Mr Khan.

It was only later that they realised what had happened: Osama bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaeda terror network and mastermind behind the worst terrorist attack on American soil on Sept 11, 2001, had been killed by United States special forces and CIA operatives during a 40-minute gunfight.

US officials said Osama, 54, was shot in the head after he and his bodyguards resisted the assault. One official told CNN that the “targeted operation” was designed to kill Osama, not to take him alive.

A son of Osama and three other people were killed, said Pakistani officials.

In Washington, US President Barack Obama took the unusual step of making a televised address at around 11.30pm on Sunday (local time) to tell Americans what they had long been waiting to hear: Osama is dead.

“Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties.

“After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body,” Mr Obama said.

According to reports, Osama’s body had been buried at sea. Muslim tradition requires burial within 24 hours of death but, by doing it at sea, American officials presumably were trying to avoid creating a shrine for Osama’s followers.

The President said: “Justice has been done.”

But, even as Americans rejoiced at a triumphant end to a near-decade-long manhunt – in New York, crowds had flocked to Times Square and Ground Zero, where the twin towers fell almost 10 years ago, some shouting “USA, Yes We Can!” – Mr Obama cautioned that the fight against terrorism hasn’t ended.

“‘There’s no doubt that Al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must and we will remain vigilant at home and abroad,” he said.

While Osama’s death represents a defining moment in the American-led fight against terrorism, it remains to be seen whether it galvanises his followers by turning him into a martyr or serves as a turning of the page in the war in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s neighbour, and gives further impetus to President Obama to bring American troops home.

The killing of Osama deep inside Pakistan in an American operation is also likely to further inflame tensions between the US and Pakistan and raise significant questions about whether elements of the Pakistani spy agency knew his whereabouts.

How much Osama’s death will affect Al Qaeda itself remains unclear. For years, as they failed to find him, American leaders have said that Osama was more symbolically important than operationally significant because he was on the run and hindered in any meaningful leadership role.

And yet, Osama remained the most potent face of terrorism around the world.

Given his status among radicals, the US government braced itself for possible retaliation. The State Department issued a worldwide travel warning, urging Americans in volatile areas “to limit their travel outside of their homes and hotels and avoid mass gatherings and demonstrations”.

Retaliatory attacks against the US and Western targets could come from Al Qaeda franchises in other countries or radicalised individuals in the US with Al Qaeda sympathies.

Mr Roger Hardy, an Islamic affairs expert, said Osama’s death will be seen as confirming the trend that Al Qaeda has become irrelevant following the uprisings in the Arab world in recent months.

“But the root causes of radical Islam – the range of issues that enabled Al Qaeda to recruit disaffected young Muslims to its cause – remain, for the most part, unaddressed. The death of Osama will strike at the morale of the global jihad, but is unlikely to end it,” Mr Hardy told BBC. Agencies

Source : TODAYonline – MediaCorp Press Ltd’s copyright

Be forward-looking and bold, MM Lee tells GIC »« COV down 9% in Q1