Straits Times: US mortgage giants’ woes far from over

NEW YORK: Gaping losses at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are causing the two American mortgage giants to slow their purchases of home loans at a time when the United States government is counting on them to help
prop up the housing market.
The reductions and associated measures that the companies are taking are likely to drive [...]

Straits Times: En bloc tussles take nasty turn as market cools

NAME calling: check. Anonymous letters: check. Scratched cars and damaged property: check.
Residents of an East Coast condominium are now entering the next phase of what has become an especially fractious en bloc sale: finger-pointing.
At a Laguna Park meeting last Saturday, residents against the collective sale squared off against those in favour. They each blamed the [...]

Straits Times: Hope for owners fighting en bloc

A website with information on the laws and processes in collective sales is aimed at helping minority owners
By Lim Wei Chean & Arlina Arshad
THE name of the website – www.hope4stayers.com – says it all. It is a forum for, and set up by, people who are worried about losing their homes in a collective [...]

Straits Times: Private home prices starting to dip

Experts expect gradual downtrend, but not lows of financial crisis days
By Joyce Teo, Property Correspondent
IT IS a bit like the dog that didn’t bark in the night: Economic growth is slowing, shares are crashing and property sales have slowed, yet private home prices have refused to take the hint and fall.
Indeed, they have barely [...]