Business Times: a-iTrust buys India office space

ASCENDAS India Trust (a-iTrust) will buy 96,051 square feet of office space at India’s International Tech Park Bangalore (ITPB) for 307.8 million rupees (S$10 million).
The space, now owned by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), will be leased back to TCS.
a-iTrust already owns 1.7 million-sq ft of space at ITPB through its Indian special-purpose vehicle International Technology [...]

Business Times: US housing upturn unlikely before ‘09

Recently-passed law to avert foreclosures a key move: official
(WASHINGTON) A recovery from the worst US housing slump since the Depression is unlikely until ‘well into 2009,’ Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston said on Monday.
‘I think we’re right in the middle of it, and I think we have a ways to go before we [...]

Straits Times: US housing market ’stabilising’

Consumer confidence recovering as inflation worries subside, says report
NEW YORK: United States consumer confidence recovered more than expected this month as worries over inflation eased, while financial markets combed through a slew of housing data yesterday for reasons to hope the worst is over for the moribund sector.
Sales of newly constructed US single- family homes [...]

Straits Times: UK mortgage defaults up in 2nd quarter: S&P

LONDON: The number of Britons failing to meet mortgage repayments rose significantly in the second quarter and the pattern suggests worse lies ahead, according to a report by Standard & Poor’s (S&P).
While the bulk of defaults remained in the sub prime sector, a sharp contraction of credit availability has led to growing strains even for [...]

Straits Times Forum: In the name of my neighbours, is there no hope for me?

I REFER to the article “Fix bank-or-CPF charge problem” (Aug 20) by Jessica Cheam. She called an en bloc sale “a forced sale in the name of urban renewal”.
I might add that en blocs are “a forced process in the name of my neighbours”. As my condo tries to go en bloc again for the [...]

Business Times: Investing in India’s real estate sector

Foreign investors need to address some key issues and regulatory requirements before jumping in
By ROHAN SOLAPURKAR
INVESTMENT in the Indian real estate sector continues to grow, albeit the pace may be slowing just a little. Foreign developers as well as private equity funds remain bullish, long-term, on India’s property market.
Not only is investment flowing into [...]

Straits Times: Lease buy-back kicks off next year

FROM January next year, elderly home-owners of small flats will receive S$550 each month if they join a new plan to sell part of their lease back to the Housing Board.
The proceeds from this sale will go to a Central Provident Fund Life annuity, which gives them a stream of monthly payouts for retirement even [...]

Straits Times: Ensuring rental flats go to ‘truly needy’

TWO-THIRDS of people who apply to rent Housing Board flats are former flat owners.
And of this group, two-thirds are not in arrears nor are they divorce cases, whose special circumstances are weighed when they apply for rental flats.
These people appear to be ‘not truly needy’, and the Housing Board does not want them to crowd [...]

Straits Times: Home prices stable till 2010: Wing Tai

It is in no rush to launch Ardmore Park sites despite softening market
By Fiona Chan, Property Reporter
PROPERTY developer Wing Tai Holdings is in no hurry to launch the two sites it owns in the prestigious Ardmore Park area: the Ardmore Park condominium and Anderson 18.
Wing Tai chairman Cheng Wai Keung said yesterday that although [...]

Business Times: HDB launches latest BTO project in Bukit Panjang

THE Housing and Development Board (HDB) yesterday launched its 474-unit Senja Green project in Bukit Panjang.
The flats, offered under HDB’s build-to-order (BTO) scheme, are among 8,400 BTO units planned for 2008, HDB said.
Senja Green comprises 96 two-room, 94 three- room and 284 four-room apartments.
Two-room flats cost S$82,000-S$106,000, three- room flats S$138,000-S$170,000 and four-room flats S$211,000-S$270,000.
Senja [...]

Business Times: Hotel site at Short Street now available

Hotel site at Short Street now available
By ARTHUR SIM
DEVELOPERS interested in a hotel site in Short Street can apply for it to be put up for tender, after the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released detailed sale conditions.
The 0.12 hectare site is one of two new hotel plots on the reserve list under the second-half 2008 [...]

Business Times: S’pore housing: Get the bigger picture right

MONEY MATTERS
By JOSEPH CHONG
THE media recently highlighted bearish analyst reports about the Singapore residential market. One, I recall, predicted a decline of 40 per cent over three years. Another forecast plunging rents in 2009 and consequent sharp falls in capital values. Perhaps this is why some owners have chosen to sell prime freehold units at [...]

Business Times: Tampines site: Sole bid rejected

FOR the fourth time this year, the government has rejected bids at a state land tender for being too low, amidst weakening property market sentiment and rising construction costs that have forced bidders to clip their land bids.
And what’s interesting is that in three of the four instances, the top or sole bidder was the [...]