Business Times: Blackstone eyes four Shanghai buildings

Package of four commercial buildings may go for US$1b
(SHANGHAI) Global buyout funds and property investors including Blackstone Group are vying to buy up to four commercial buildings in Shanghai for as much as US$1 billion, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Super Ocean Group, whose chairman is high-profile businessman Ye Lipei, has put [...]

Straits Times Forum: Estate agent behaved more like an impatient customer

MY FAMILY and I viewed a resale four-room HDB flat at Block 641A Punggol Central, last Sunday at about 6.30pm. It was a ‘open house’ type of viewing with about 20 to 30 potential buyers. The agent representing ERA was a young women, reportedly a top salesman in the area.
During the viewing, we experienced her [...]

Business Times: InterContinental Q2 profit beats estimates

(LONDON) InterContinental Hotels Group Plc, owner of the Holiday Inn lodging brand, reported second-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates as demand in Europe and the Middle East helped to counter a slowdown in the US.
InterContinental rose 3 per cent in London trading after the Denham, England-based company also said it reached a target on room [...]

Business Times: Japan’s Urban fails with debt of 255b yen

Property firm cites difficulty in raising finance due to global credit crunch
(TOKYO) Japanese property developer Urban Corp yesterday failed with debt of 255.8 billion yen (S$3.3 billion), caught by the global credit crunch in the biggest collapse by a listed Japanese company in six years.
The apartment and shopping mall developer was the latest in a [...]

Business Times: Sub-prime losses incurred by banks top US$500b

(NEW YORK) Banks’ losses from the US sub-prime crisis and the ensuing credit crunch crossed the US$500-billion mark as writedowns spread to more asset types.
The writedowns and credit losses at more than 100 of the world’s biggest banks and securities firms rose after UBS AG reported second-quarter earnings on Tuesday, which included US$6 billion of [...]

Straits Times: Building projects busting budgets

Shortage of construction workers and materials causing costs to shoot up by as much as 50%
By Francis Chan
SOME building projects in Singapore are facing cost blowouts of 30 to 50 per cent above their original budget as higher construction costs bite hard.
The continuing shortage of construction workers and building materials has left project bosses [...]

Business Times: Colliers units merge to boost services as rivals expand

(NEW YORK) Commercial real estate broker Colliers ABR is combining with three affiliates to expand its services as rivals grow through acquisitions.
Formerly independent Colliers offices in Washington, Baltimore and St Louis will join forces with the New York firm, the companies said in a news release issued on Tuesday.
The consolidation will create the largest independent [...]

Business Times: In slow times, rezoning appeals to developers

Time-consuming process, so builders shy away from it in a go-go market
(NEW YORK) Property developers generally earn their money by putting up new buildings, but when the real estate market cools, making it difficult to obtain financing, they often look for other ways to help turn a profit.
Some developers – and their real estate lawyers [...]

Straits Times: POSB mortgage plan leads market: DBS

It says half the buyers ineligible for HDB loans have Home Ideal package
By Grace Ng
DBS BANK says it has reached a decisive milestone in its renewed efforts to grab a bigger slice of the Singapore mass mortgage market with its POSB brand.
It adds that it has pulled ahead of rival banks in offering loans [...]

Business Times: BHP Billiton to lease office space at MBFC Tower 2

Aussie firm will take up 150,000 sq ft at Marina Bay Financial Centre’s Tower 2
By KALPANA RASHIWALA
(SINGAPORE) Mining and resources giant BHP Billiton of Australia is leasing about 150,000 sq ft at Marina Bay Financial Centre, BT understands.
The space will be in MBFC’s 50-storey Tower 2, under the mega project’s first phase, which [...]

Business Times: CPF keeps OA interest rate at 2.5%

Concessionary rate for HDB mortgage loans remains 2.6%
THE Central Provident Fund Board (CPF) will continue to pay 2.5 per cent interest per annum for members’ savings in their Ordinary Account (OA) from Oct 1 to Dec 31.
CPF said that although its computed interest rate derived from the rates of major local banks for the period [...]

Business Times: SC Global’s Q2 net rises 117% to S$11.47m

SC Global Developments has reported a net profit of S$11.47 million for Q2 2008, up 117 per cent from the S$5.28 million in the year-ago period.
Revenue for the quarter was S$32.4 million, marginally lower by 5 per cent compared with S$34 million in Q2 2007.
The group saw revenue recognition from residential units sold in its [...]