Nov 11, 2009
S'pore household net wealth hits $1 trillion
HOUSEHOLDS have generally weathered the financial crisis well with net wealth rising to an all-time high of
$1 trillion as of Sept 30, after slumping to $895 billion in the first quarter this year.
The record numbers - released in the Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) annual Financial Stability Review on Monday - go a long way towards explaining why the recession that has just ended seemed less painful than previous downturns.
The recovery in the stock and property markets since the first quarter is one reason, but Singaporeans are also richer as they saved, invested and paid down their debt.
The global economic recovery has meant a strong rebound in net wealth - assets minus liabilities.
Take property assets, for instance. The MAS data showed that real estate holdings have turned around - they were up by an estimated 9 per cent to $537 billion in the three months to Sept 30, from the low of $491 billion in the second quarter.
The central bank noted that household assets remain more than six times the value of household liabilities, while aggregate household net wealth is about four times the value of gross domestic product, up from about 3.6 times in the first quarter.
Singaporeans refused to splurge on credit, keeping debt at roughly the same level during the economic downturn, the data showed.
Total liabilities increased by just 4 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter - much lower than the long- term average growth rate of about 13 per cent, the MAS said.
Most of the increase came from mortgages, which account for the bulk of household borrowing. This was mainly due to the increased activity in the property market.
'In short, households have generally weathered the crisis relatively well on the back of their strong balance sheets,' said the MAS.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
TodayOnline : A HOME TO CALL YOUR OWN
A HOME TO CALL YOUR OWN
Let owners mortgage their HDB flats for private loans
05:55 AM Nov 09, 2009
by Conrad Raj editor-at-large conrad@mediacorp.com.sg
THE Housing and Development Board (HDB) has received numerous awards and kudos over the nearly 50 years of its existence, including the 2008 United Nations Public Service Award for providing affordable homes to the vast majority of Singaporeans.
For the most part, the commendations are deserved. More than 85 per cent of Singaporeans now live in an HDB flat with 95 per cent of them considered home-owners, according to HDB chairman James Koh Cher Siang. This must be the highest ratio of home-owners of any country in the world.
But while you can rent out your flat under certain conditions, and even do a lease buyback to unlock value if you are an elderly, you cannot mortgage your apartment for a loan even if the property is fully paid up for.
Why not? I could not get a proper answer from a phone call to the HDB.
So I went to its website where it said: "HDB flats can only be mortgaged to banks or financial institutions to finance the purchase of the flat itself. You are not allowed to use your HDB flat, which has been fully paid for, as collateral to banks to raise credit facilities for private reasons. This is to avoid exposing flat owners like yourself to the risk of losing your flat should you be unable to repay the bank loan."
This begs the question: Why this difference between an HDB flat, which in effect comes with a 99-year lease, and any other leasehold property?
Perhaps HDB's reasoning was valid and even necessary during those days, now long past, when most buyers were less sophisticated and less knowledgeable in the ways of modern finance. But people these days are more sophisticated.
And in any case, some HDB flat-owners already make themselves vulnerable to banking foreclosure rules when they take out a home loan from a financial institution. In other words, they are already exposed to the risk of losing their flat - allowing them to take out a mortgage loan does not add to that risk.
So why not let the flat owner have a shot at putting his asset to better use? Furthermore, shouldn't the financial institution be the best judge as to whether one's flat is good enough collateral for a loan?
Then there are those residents eligible for lease buyback - applicable to the elderly in three-room and smaller flats, who under the scheme would have the tail-end of their lease bought up by the HDB and given a monthly payment through an annuity for life. Why not offer them the alternative of using the flat to get a loan?
Over the last few years, the HDB has been easing its rules, especially on selling and tenanting out its flats. For instance, since 2003, anyone wishing to sell his flat bought with bank loans and without a Central Provident Fund housing grant, has been able to do so after living in it for a year, compared with two-and-a-half years previously.
The same time-lock applies to those who bought resale flats without housing grants, and who choose to refinance their mortgages with a bank loan.
You can also sublet your entire flat after living in it for five years in the case of a subsidised unit, and only three years if you did not use an HDB subsidy.
Yet, one cannot use the flat to get a private loan. And we are not talking small beer here. These days some HDB flats - especially those near a Mass Rapid Transit line - can cost almost as much as a private apartment.
Singaporeans these days are financially more sophisticated, and the HDB's rules ought to change with them. It's time the board eases its restrictions on using housing board flats as loan collateral, and let HDB dwellers really feel that they own their homes.
Let owners mortgage their HDB flats for private loans
05:55 AM Nov 09, 2009
by Conrad Raj editor-at-large conrad@mediacorp.com.sg
THE Housing and Development Board (HDB) has received numerous awards and kudos over the nearly 50 years of its existence, including the 2008 United Nations Public Service Award for providing affordable homes to the vast majority of Singaporeans.
For the most part, the commendations are deserved. More than 85 per cent of Singaporeans now live in an HDB flat with 95 per cent of them considered home-owners, according to HDB chairman James Koh Cher Siang. This must be the highest ratio of home-owners of any country in the world.
But while you can rent out your flat under certain conditions, and even do a lease buyback to unlock value if you are an elderly, you cannot mortgage your apartment for a loan even if the property is fully paid up for.
Why not? I could not get a proper answer from a phone call to the HDB.
So I went to its website where it said: "HDB flats can only be mortgaged to banks or financial institutions to finance the purchase of the flat itself. You are not allowed to use your HDB flat, which has been fully paid for, as collateral to banks to raise credit facilities for private reasons. This is to avoid exposing flat owners like yourself to the risk of losing your flat should you be unable to repay the bank loan."
This begs the question: Why this difference between an HDB flat, which in effect comes with a 99-year lease, and any other leasehold property?
Perhaps HDB's reasoning was valid and even necessary during those days, now long past, when most buyers were less sophisticated and less knowledgeable in the ways of modern finance. But people these days are more sophisticated.
And in any case, some HDB flat-owners already make themselves vulnerable to banking foreclosure rules when they take out a home loan from a financial institution. In other words, they are already exposed to the risk of losing their flat - allowing them to take out a mortgage loan does not add to that risk.
So why not let the flat owner have a shot at putting his asset to better use? Furthermore, shouldn't the financial institution be the best judge as to whether one's flat is good enough collateral for a loan?
Then there are those residents eligible for lease buyback - applicable to the elderly in three-room and smaller flats, who under the scheme would have the tail-end of their lease bought up by the HDB and given a monthly payment through an annuity for life. Why not offer them the alternative of using the flat to get a loan?
Over the last few years, the HDB has been easing its rules, especially on selling and tenanting out its flats. For instance, since 2003, anyone wishing to sell his flat bought with bank loans and without a Central Provident Fund housing grant, has been able to do so after living in it for a year, compared with two-and-a-half years previously.
The same time-lock applies to those who bought resale flats without housing grants, and who choose to refinance their mortgages with a bank loan.
You can also sublet your entire flat after living in it for five years in the case of a subsidised unit, and only three years if you did not use an HDB subsidy.
Yet, one cannot use the flat to get a private loan. And we are not talking small beer here. These days some HDB flats - especially those near a Mass Rapid Transit line - can cost almost as much as a private apartment.
Singaporeans these days are financially more sophisticated, and the HDB's rules ought to change with them. It's time the board eases its restrictions on using housing board flats as loan collateral, and let HDB dwellers really feel that they own their homes.
ST : This for developers and their customers
Nov 11, 2009
This for developers and their customers
NO PROPERTY bubble shall be tolerated. This bald assertion went down like a splash of cold water on the fast heating market when, in September, the Government stopped home loans on easy terms and chose not to extend concessionary support for developers upon its scheduled expiry next year. These concessions were granted in the last Budget. Speculative demand did slow as a result of these moves, but price levels were still too high for comfort. Developers were pushing their luck cashing in after a fallow period. Last week came an early announcement that land sales targeted at mass market buyers, including parcels for executive condominiums, will be available for bids early next year. Land releases have a gestation period between tender and launch, but the depressant effect on sentiment is immediate. The market understands that, like nothing else. This undoubtedly was the intention of the National Development Ministry, as the consensus among government trend trackers is that the variable economic recovery is hard to chart. It makes sense that asset price inflation associated with unjustified market exuberance has to be checked.
Within days, the Monetary Authority of Singapore reinforced the message with a prominent warning on real estate activity in its year-end Financial Stability Review. It cited risks covering the opposing contingencies of a faltering economic recovery leading to property portfolio devaluations, and a sustained recovery leading inevitably to higher interest rates, which would be trouble for the over-leveraged and the illiquid. The central bank's concern about macro stability is naturally holistic, seeing what adverse impact unrestrained stock and property bets in a period of unstable growth can have on the soundness of the banking system. Household debt shall not grow onerous, it is saying by extension. Banks' lending capacity must remain unimpeded so as to keep the economy oiled. It would be compromised if the rebound falters and brings in its train business failures, job losses and the ultimate danger of soured loans forcing banks to be again stringent with credit. The MAS bottom line (developers should prick their ears up here) is that further intervention in the property market would be necessary if 'speculative momentum' re-emerged.
Buying activity and price levels for the rest of the year and up till the next Budget is presented will tell if the industry and its customers see the inherent risks of acting too hastily on the rebound. It took Hong Kong a dozen years for property values to right themselves. But stable growth never stood a chance in that archetypal monetised enclave. Its government is now desperately acting to head off a bubble forming.
This for developers and their customers
NO PROPERTY bubble shall be tolerated. This bald assertion went down like a splash of cold water on the fast heating market when, in September, the Government stopped home loans on easy terms and chose not to extend concessionary support for developers upon its scheduled expiry next year. These concessions were granted in the last Budget. Speculative demand did slow as a result of these moves, but price levels were still too high for comfort. Developers were pushing their luck cashing in after a fallow period. Last week came an early announcement that land sales targeted at mass market buyers, including parcels for executive condominiums, will be available for bids early next year. Land releases have a gestation period between tender and launch, but the depressant effect on sentiment is immediate. The market understands that, like nothing else. This undoubtedly was the intention of the National Development Ministry, as the consensus among government trend trackers is that the variable economic recovery is hard to chart. It makes sense that asset price inflation associated with unjustified market exuberance has to be checked.
Within days, the Monetary Authority of Singapore reinforced the message with a prominent warning on real estate activity in its year-end Financial Stability Review. It cited risks covering the opposing contingencies of a faltering economic recovery leading to property portfolio devaluations, and a sustained recovery leading inevitably to higher interest rates, which would be trouble for the over-leveraged and the illiquid. The central bank's concern about macro stability is naturally holistic, seeing what adverse impact unrestrained stock and property bets in a period of unstable growth can have on the soundness of the banking system. Household debt shall not grow onerous, it is saying by extension. Banks' lending capacity must remain unimpeded so as to keep the economy oiled. It would be compromised if the rebound falters and brings in its train business failures, job losses and the ultimate danger of soured loans forcing banks to be again stringent with credit. The MAS bottom line (developers should prick their ears up here) is that further intervention in the property market would be necessary if 'speculative momentum' re-emerged.
Buying activity and price levels for the rest of the year and up till the next Budget is presented will tell if the industry and its customers see the inherent risks of acting too hastily on the rebound. It took Hong Kong a dozen years for property values to right themselves. But stable growth never stood a chance in that archetypal monetised enclave. Its government is now desperately acting to head off a bubble forming.
ST : Property cycles hard to predict
Nov 11, 2009
Property cycles hard to predict
But the Government will do its best to avoid boom-bust cycles, says Finance Minister
By Fiona Chan
PROPERTY cycles are hard to predict, but the Government will try to avoid boom-bust cycles, said Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam yesterday.
'We will keep our eyes on the ball and use all the tools at our disposal, but in a calibrated fashion,' he told about 80 business leaders at a forum to garner feedback for the Economic Strategies Committee. Mr Tharman is heading this committee to look into new ways for Singapore to grow.
The Government will probably not use 'macro tools' to manage property cycles, such as changing interest rates or exchange rates, because these rates have many other effects such as on businesses as well, said Mr Tharman in his concluding remarks at the forum.
But there are other options. These include tweaking rules on credit, adjusting land supply and - in extreme situations - amending tax policies, he said.
Two months ago, the Government introduced measures to help cool the property market, including removing the interest absorption payment scheme and significantly increasing land supply.
On Monday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore also highlighted the possibility that additional cooling measures may be needed if there is a renewed surge in property speculation.
'We do want to manage the property cycle as best we can, prevent boom and bust,' said Mr Tharman, adding that this is not easy as it is difficult to anticipate Singapore's property needs four or five years in advance. As for broader economic cycles, Singapore will always be exposed to ups and downs beyond its control, he said.
'As a city, and a global city at that, we will always be subject to global cycles in specific industries as well as the global macro cycle,' he said.
The important thing is to achieve good average growth over the cycle, rather than go for a lower growth path to avoid volatility, said Mr Tharman. 'If you try to dampen all volatility, you usually end up with a lower average as well.'
The unusually strong growth that Singapore enjoyed in 2006 and 2007 helped pull the average growth across the most recent business cycle up to 5 per cent, he added. Without this, wage growth in particular would have been weak.
So Singapore should opt for a path of good growth in incomes, but prepare its businesses and workers well for occasional shocks and respond quickly when they come, said Mr Tharman.
Singapore has 'not come out too badly' in the downturn in terms of its ability to buffer companies and employees and to prepare for recovery, he said. But for its next growth phase, the country must undergo a 'step change'. What are needed are higher skills, higher productivity and a higher level of expertise across the board.
Singapore could not engage in strategies of the industrial policy type, that try to plan well ahead of the market. But it moves quickly to identify emerging market trends and work with early adopters to develop clusters of real strength, Mr Tharman said.
One advantage that Singapore can use is its diversity of both people and companies. This will prove a big boon in an age where the Asian consumer is expected to be a key driver of economic growth, Mr Tharman said.
'In Singapore, you can get a feel of what is happening all around Asia... a sense of what the emerging drivers are.'
Property cycles hard to predict
But the Government will do its best to avoid boom-bust cycles, says Finance Minister
By Fiona Chan
PROPERTY cycles are hard to predict, but the Government will try to avoid boom-bust cycles, said Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam yesterday.
'We will keep our eyes on the ball and use all the tools at our disposal, but in a calibrated fashion,' he told about 80 business leaders at a forum to garner feedback for the Economic Strategies Committee. Mr Tharman is heading this committee to look into new ways for Singapore to grow.
The Government will probably not use 'macro tools' to manage property cycles, such as changing interest rates or exchange rates, because these rates have many other effects such as on businesses as well, said Mr Tharman in his concluding remarks at the forum.
But there are other options. These include tweaking rules on credit, adjusting land supply and - in extreme situations - amending tax policies, he said.
Two months ago, the Government introduced measures to help cool the property market, including removing the interest absorption payment scheme and significantly increasing land supply.
On Monday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore also highlighted the possibility that additional cooling measures may be needed if there is a renewed surge in property speculation.
'We do want to manage the property cycle as best we can, prevent boom and bust,' said Mr Tharman, adding that this is not easy as it is difficult to anticipate Singapore's property needs four or five years in advance. As for broader economic cycles, Singapore will always be exposed to ups and downs beyond its control, he said.
'As a city, and a global city at that, we will always be subject to global cycles in specific industries as well as the global macro cycle,' he said.
The important thing is to achieve good average growth over the cycle, rather than go for a lower growth path to avoid volatility, said Mr Tharman. 'If you try to dampen all volatility, you usually end up with a lower average as well.'
The unusually strong growth that Singapore enjoyed in 2006 and 2007 helped pull the average growth across the most recent business cycle up to 5 per cent, he added. Without this, wage growth in particular would have been weak.
So Singapore should opt for a path of good growth in incomes, but prepare its businesses and workers well for occasional shocks and respond quickly when they come, said Mr Tharman.
Singapore has 'not come out too badly' in the downturn in terms of its ability to buffer companies and employees and to prepare for recovery, he said. But for its next growth phase, the country must undergo a 'step change'. What are needed are higher skills, higher productivity and a higher level of expertise across the board.
Singapore could not engage in strategies of the industrial policy type, that try to plan well ahead of the market. But it moves quickly to identify emerging market trends and work with early adopters to develop clusters of real strength, Mr Tharman said.
One advantage that Singapore can use is its diversity of both people and companies. This will prove a big boon in an age where the Asian consumer is expected to be a key driver of economic growth, Mr Tharman said.
'In Singapore, you can get a feel of what is happening all around Asia... a sense of what the emerging drivers are.'
BT : Mustafa Warehouse closes doors to shoppers
Business Times - 11 Nov 2009
Mustafa Warehouse closes doors to shoppers
URA case against company due for mention in court today
THE shutters finally came down at Mustafa Warehouse in Kallang Pudding Road yesterday afternoon after the company was slapped with a writ of summons last Thursday by Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) for unauthorised use of the warehouse building.
The case against the building's owner, Mohamed Mustafa & Samsuddin Co Pte Ltd, is due to be mentioned in the Subordinate Courts today.
The six-storey building is approved for warehouse use but for the past four weeks or so, a department store has been operating on the first level and a supermarket on level two. Commercial activities like these are not permitted in warehouse developments. The building's upper levels are used as a warehouse.
Yesterday afternoon, around 2pm, customers shopping in the facility were told to leave, after which staff started to close the shutters on the first two levels, BT understands. Customers were told to shop at Mustafa Centre in Little India instead.
Last week, when URA served the writ of summons to Mustafa, a URA spokeswoman said that approval to use the premises as a warehouse was given in 2001. Its owner subsequently submitted an application in 2004 to change the building's use to a wholesale centre for household goods and appliances.
'The application was not approved and URA advised the owner that the proposed wholesale centre use involves sale of products and is considered commercial use, which is not allowed in a warehouse development. URA recently received feedback regarding the unauthorised commercial activities,' URA's spokeswoman said last Thursday.
If found guilty, Mustafa could be fined up to $200,000 for the breach, which is classified as a planning offence under the Planning Act.
Mustafa Warehouse closes doors to shoppers
URA case against company due for mention in court today
THE shutters finally came down at Mustafa Warehouse in Kallang Pudding Road yesterday afternoon after the company was slapped with a writ of summons last Thursday by Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) for unauthorised use of the warehouse building.
The case against the building's owner, Mohamed Mustafa & Samsuddin Co Pte Ltd, is due to be mentioned in the Subordinate Courts today.
The six-storey building is approved for warehouse use but for the past four weeks or so, a department store has been operating on the first level and a supermarket on level two. Commercial activities like these are not permitted in warehouse developments. The building's upper levels are used as a warehouse.
Yesterday afternoon, around 2pm, customers shopping in the facility were told to leave, after which staff started to close the shutters on the first two levels, BT understands. Customers were told to shop at Mustafa Centre in Little India instead.
Last week, when URA served the writ of summons to Mustafa, a URA spokeswoman said that approval to use the premises as a warehouse was given in 2001. Its owner subsequently submitted an application in 2004 to change the building's use to a wholesale centre for household goods and appliances.
'The application was not approved and URA advised the owner that the proposed wholesale centre use involves sale of products and is considered commercial use, which is not allowed in a warehouse development. URA recently received feedback regarding the unauthorised commercial activities,' URA's spokeswoman said last Thursday.
If found guilty, Mustafa could be fined up to $200,000 for the breach, which is classified as a planning offence under the Planning Act.
BT : SPH-led consortium makes top bid for Clementi mall
Business Times - 11 Nov 2009
SPH-led consortium makes top bid for Clementi mall
With FairPrice and Income onboard, it puts in $541.9m bid
(SINGAPORE) A joint venture involving Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) subsidiary Times Properties, NTUC FairPrice Co-Op and NTUC Income Insurance Co-op placed the top bid of $541.898 million for a mall being developed in Clementi Town Centre by the Housing & Development Board (HDB).
The top bid was 41.9 per cent above the next highest bid of $382 million, made by a joint venture involving Keppel Land's fund management unit Alpha Investment Partners and Guthrie.
HDB is building only the core structure and facade of the mall, which it aims to hand over to the winning bidder in August next year. The new owner will then finish the project internally, with flexibility to plan the theme and layout.
Clementi Mall - the working name for the property - comprises two basement levels and five storeys above ground with a maximum net floor area of 18,000 square metres or 193,750 square feet of retail space.
An air-conditioned bus interchange will be on the first level and the third level will be connected to Clementi MRT Station.
The SPH-led consortium's top bid works out to $2,797 per square foot (psf) based on the maximum allowable retail net floor area (NFA), says Stella Hoh, head of investments at Jones Lang LaSalle, which handled the tender exercise for the mall for HDB.
Including an estimated fitting-out cost of about $50 million, the unit price works out to $3,055 psf of retail NFA, she added.
Knight Frank managing director Danny Yeo, using a lower fit-out expenditure assumption of $40 million, says the top bid works out to about $3,003 psf of retail NFA.
'To achieve a 5.5 per cent to 6 per cent net property yield that most investors would want today for such an asset, an average gross monthly rental of about $18 psf would be required. Right now the average rental at the best suburban malls is about $15-16 psf,' he said.
'If they get their tenant mix right, it would not be a problem to grow the mall's rental level in a few years,' he added.
When contacted, a spokesman for SPH said: 'We intend to optimise the usage efficiency of the mall.'
He added that 'the joint venture parties have evaluated the business case for the project and believe that it is a reasonable bid', citing several factors, including the good catchment area.
Besides its location in Clementi Town, the property is in close proximity to the Holland, Bukit Timah and West Coast areas with key tertiary institutions such as the National University of Singapore, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic and UniSIM.
'There are not many malls in the area. The property is in a high-traffic area due to integrated transport amenities and the business will provide solid and steady income stream to the JV parties,' he added.
SPH is leading the joint venture with a 60 per cent stake, with FairPrice and Income taking 20 per cent each.
FairPrice will operate a supermarket and Income is also considering taking up some space in Clementi Mall, said SPH's spokesman.
The other bidders at yesterday's tender were Frasers Centrepoint Ltd ($352.1 million), the trustee of CapitaMall Trust, and Australia's Lend Lease group.
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
SPH-led consortium makes top bid for Clementi mall
With FairPrice and Income onboard, it puts in $541.9m bid
(SINGAPORE) A joint venture involving Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) subsidiary Times Properties, NTUC FairPrice Co-Op and NTUC Income Insurance Co-op placed the top bid of $541.898 million for a mall being developed in Clementi Town Centre by the Housing & Development Board (HDB).
The top bid was 41.9 per cent above the next highest bid of $382 million, made by a joint venture involving Keppel Land's fund management unit Alpha Investment Partners and Guthrie.
HDB is building only the core structure and facade of the mall, which it aims to hand over to the winning bidder in August next year. The new owner will then finish the project internally, with flexibility to plan the theme and layout.
Clementi Mall - the working name for the property - comprises two basement levels and five storeys above ground with a maximum net floor area of 18,000 square metres or 193,750 square feet of retail space.
An air-conditioned bus interchange will be on the first level and the third level will be connected to Clementi MRT Station.
The SPH-led consortium's top bid works out to $2,797 per square foot (psf) based on the maximum allowable retail net floor area (NFA), says Stella Hoh, head of investments at Jones Lang LaSalle, which handled the tender exercise for the mall for HDB.
Including an estimated fitting-out cost of about $50 million, the unit price works out to $3,055 psf of retail NFA, she added.
Knight Frank managing director Danny Yeo, using a lower fit-out expenditure assumption of $40 million, says the top bid works out to about $3,003 psf of retail NFA.
'To achieve a 5.5 per cent to 6 per cent net property yield that most investors would want today for such an asset, an average gross monthly rental of about $18 psf would be required. Right now the average rental at the best suburban malls is about $15-16 psf,' he said.
'If they get their tenant mix right, it would not be a problem to grow the mall's rental level in a few years,' he added.
When contacted, a spokesman for SPH said: 'We intend to optimise the usage efficiency of the mall.'
He added that 'the joint venture parties have evaluated the business case for the project and believe that it is a reasonable bid', citing several factors, including the good catchment area.
Besides its location in Clementi Town, the property is in close proximity to the Holland, Bukit Timah and West Coast areas with key tertiary institutions such as the National University of Singapore, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic and UniSIM.
'There are not many malls in the area. The property is in a high-traffic area due to integrated transport amenities and the business will provide solid and steady income stream to the JV parties,' he added.
SPH is leading the joint venture with a 60 per cent stake, with FairPrice and Income taking 20 per cent each.
FairPrice will operate a supermarket and Income is also considering taking up some space in Clementi Mall, said SPH's spokesman.
The other bidders at yesterday's tender were Frasers Centrepoint Ltd ($352.1 million), the trustee of CapitaMall Trust, and Australia's Lend Lease group.
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
BT : All tools to avoid property boom, bust
Business Times - 11 Nov 2009
All tools to avoid property boom, bust
FINANCE Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam yesterday said the government will use every tool at its disposal 'in a calibrated fashion' to prevent boom and bust in the property market. One day after the Monetary Authority of Singapore served notice of further action to cool the housing market if needed, in the face of growing speculation risks, Mr Tharman spoke about the need to manage the property cycle.
It won't involve macroeconomic levers such as the interest rate or exchange rate, though, as such tools apply across the board to businesses at large, not just the asset markets.
'But we do have other tools like credit rules, land supply decisions and, in the extreme, tax policies, which we will use in a calibrated fashion depending on the circumstance, depending on the stage of the asset market.' He was speaking about managing volatility generally at an Economic Strategies Committee industry forum when he cited the property market. 'We will keep our eyes on the ball and use every tool at our disposal in a calibrated fashion to try to manage . . . as best as we can,' he said.
But it's 'very hard to anticipate four to five years in advance what's going to happen globally, regionally and hence within this global city', he said, recalling how the government did pay heed to market signals of a supply glut in the property sector a few years ago, but found instead, by 2006 and 2007, a severe shortage, especially in the office market.
All tools to avoid property boom, bust
FINANCE Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam yesterday said the government will use every tool at its disposal 'in a calibrated fashion' to prevent boom and bust in the property market. One day after the Monetary Authority of Singapore served notice of further action to cool the housing market if needed, in the face of growing speculation risks, Mr Tharman spoke about the need to manage the property cycle.
It won't involve macroeconomic levers such as the interest rate or exchange rate, though, as such tools apply across the board to businesses at large, not just the asset markets.
'But we do have other tools like credit rules, land supply decisions and, in the extreme, tax policies, which we will use in a calibrated fashion depending on the circumstance, depending on the stage of the asset market.' He was speaking about managing volatility generally at an Economic Strategies Committee industry forum when he cited the property market. 'We will keep our eyes on the ball and use every tool at our disposal in a calibrated fashion to try to manage . . . as best as we can,' he said.
But it's 'very hard to anticipate four to five years in advance what's going to happen globally, regionally and hence within this global city', he said, recalling how the government did pay heed to market signals of a supply glut in the property sector a few years ago, but found instead, by 2006 and 2007, a severe shortage, especially in the office market.
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