Dec 7, 2009
Dubai market slumps
DUBAI - THE main stock exchanges in the United Arab Emirates fell in early trading on Monday, with Dubai slumping by more than four per cent and Abu Dhabi dropping by 0.79 per cent.
The Dubai Financial Market fell to 1,776.76 points, a 4.12-per cent fall, a day after a rise of 1.18 per cent from last week. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange dropped slightly to 2,652.04 in early trading, after having closed up a hefty 3.89 per cent on Sunday at 2,673.12 points.
The Kuwaiti stock market was also down on Monday, dropping 0.19 per cent, to 6,719.6 points. It closed on Sunday at 6,726.2 points, a 0.5-per cent rise from last week.
Bucking the trend, Qatar's market rose 1.51 per cent, to 7,639.74 points. It closed at 7,057.39 on Sunday, 0.34 per cent up.
Both the Dubai and Abu Dhabi markets suffered heavy losses last week over Dubai's debt woes. The Dubai index plunged 12.5 per cent over a two-day trading period, while Abu Dhabi's slumped 11.6 per cent.
The sharp falls came after Dubai on Nov 25 requested a freeze of payments on the debt of its largest conglomerate, Dubai World, which is liable for US$59 billion. The request raised fears of a debt default by Dubai and sent jitters through global financial markets. The emirate's debts are estimated to total at least US$80 billion. -- AFP
Monday, December 7, 2009
Sentosa Cove draws more transactions
Dec 7, 2009 - PropertyGuru.com.sg
Homes in Sentosa Cove drew strong interest in the first 10 months of 2009 from high-net-worth investors. More properties costing over $10 million were transacted over this period compared to the last four years.
According to property consultancy firm Savills Singapore, its analysis of URA Realis data as of Dec 1 showed that September and October 2009 were noticeably active months. In fact, Sentosa Cove’s three largest residential transactions to date – at $20.18 million, $22 million and $30 million respectively – happened during this time. The biggest transaction involved a completed bungalow at Ocean Drive, which changed hands in October this year in the secondary market. The selling price of $30 million works out to $1,753 per sq ft, based on the 17,115 sq ft land area.
Two Chinese citizens, who are also permanent residents of Singapore, were the buyers of the bungalow, and the seller is a locally incorporated firm.
The second and third biggest deals were transacted in September, involving the subsales of two villas at Paradise Island for $22 million and $20.18 million.
In general, the analysis of Savills showed that the number of lodged caveats for homes in Sentosa Cove costing more than $10 million jumped to 24 in the first 10 months of the year – from just 17 between the last quarters of 2004 and 2008.
More than half or 14 of the 24 transactions were sealed in September and October. According to the firm, a more optimistic outlook for the global economy at the time, before the recent debt problems of Dubai World, enhanced investor’s confidence in making big-ticket purchases like super-luxury homes.
Savills said that the stable recovery of Singapore’s economy in the past few months and the renewed prominence of the Republic on the global financial map have boosted optimism among investors to invest monies here.
Steven Ming, Savills director of investment sales & prestige homes, offered another reason for the flow of transactions in October. He related the anecdotal evidence that some high-net-worth mainland Chinese were in Singapore to shop for properties during their National Day Golden Week holiday.
Overall, the total number of caveats lodged for private homes in Sentosa Cove increased to 133 in the first 10 months of 2009 from 72 in the whole of 2008. Nevertheless, the latest figure is just 26 percent of the peak in 2006, having a record of 516 transactions.
Savills also confirmed that the bulk of transactions in 2009 were in the resale and subsale markets. Deals in the primary market, which involved developer sales accounted for just 9 percent of caveats. This reflected the limited release of new projects in 2009.
Ong Choon Fah, DTZ executive director (consulting), believes that prices of homes at Sentosa Cove will continue to appreciate in 2010, although a lot will depend on the wider property market. “Prices in Sentosa Cove could be more volatile than in the prime districts on the mainland because Sentosa Cove buyers are relatively more investment driven than motivated by owner occupation, compared to the prime districts. When markets go up or down markedly, investors may be more inclined to sell than owner-occupiers, whether it is to cut loss or realize a gain,” she said.
Homes in Sentosa Cove drew strong interest in the first 10 months of 2009 from high-net-worth investors. More properties costing over $10 million were transacted over this period compared to the last four years.
According to property consultancy firm Savills Singapore, its analysis of URA Realis data as of Dec 1 showed that September and October 2009 were noticeably active months. In fact, Sentosa Cove’s three largest residential transactions to date – at $20.18 million, $22 million and $30 million respectively – happened during this time. The biggest transaction involved a completed bungalow at Ocean Drive, which changed hands in October this year in the secondary market. The selling price of $30 million works out to $1,753 per sq ft, based on the 17,115 sq ft land area.
Two Chinese citizens, who are also permanent residents of Singapore, were the buyers of the bungalow, and the seller is a locally incorporated firm.
The second and third biggest deals were transacted in September, involving the subsales of two villas at Paradise Island for $22 million and $20.18 million.
In general, the analysis of Savills showed that the number of lodged caveats for homes in Sentosa Cove costing more than $10 million jumped to 24 in the first 10 months of the year – from just 17 between the last quarters of 2004 and 2008.
More than half or 14 of the 24 transactions were sealed in September and October. According to the firm, a more optimistic outlook for the global economy at the time, before the recent debt problems of Dubai World, enhanced investor’s confidence in making big-ticket purchases like super-luxury homes.
Savills said that the stable recovery of Singapore’s economy in the past few months and the renewed prominence of the Republic on the global financial map have boosted optimism among investors to invest monies here.
Steven Ming, Savills director of investment sales & prestige homes, offered another reason for the flow of transactions in October. He related the anecdotal evidence that some high-net-worth mainland Chinese were in Singapore to shop for properties during their National Day Golden Week holiday.
Overall, the total number of caveats lodged for private homes in Sentosa Cove increased to 133 in the first 10 months of 2009 from 72 in the whole of 2008. Nevertheless, the latest figure is just 26 percent of the peak in 2006, having a record of 516 transactions.
Savills also confirmed that the bulk of transactions in 2009 were in the resale and subsale markets. Deals in the primary market, which involved developer sales accounted for just 9 percent of caveats. This reflected the limited release of new projects in 2009.
Ong Choon Fah, DTZ executive director (consulting), believes that prices of homes at Sentosa Cove will continue to appreciate in 2010, although a lot will depend on the wider property market. “Prices in Sentosa Cove could be more volatile than in the prime districts on the mainland because Sentosa Cove buyers are relatively more investment driven than motivated by owner occupation, compared to the prime districts. When markets go up or down markedly, investors may be more inclined to sell than owner-occupiers, whether it is to cut loss or realize a gain,” she said.
ST : Facebook hit by 'phishing'
Dec 7, 2009
Facebook hit by 'phishing'
THE next time you see a close friend announcing a good deal on Facebook, beware: It might be a trick hatched by hackers.
The high-traffic social-networking website is the latest tool that hackers are using to 'phish', that is, to steal personal information to carry out online fraud.
Publishing editor Eric Pang, 26, realised that something was wrong with his Facebook account two months ago when it kept posting sham messages on his wall and his friends' walls in his name.
They were typically exclamations that encouraged users to click on a web link.
Examples include 'I can't believe this woman lost so much weight! facebookhealth4.com', or 'I made $1,285 today working online! You guys have to check out WorkHomeDream.net to get started too!'
In May this year, Reuters reported that hackers launched 'phishing' attacks on 200 million users on Facebook. -- MY PAPER
Facebook hit by 'phishing'
THE next time you see a close friend announcing a good deal on Facebook, beware: It might be a trick hatched by hackers.
The high-traffic social-networking website is the latest tool that hackers are using to 'phish', that is, to steal personal information to carry out online fraud.
Publishing editor Eric Pang, 26, realised that something was wrong with his Facebook account two months ago when it kept posting sham messages on his wall and his friends' walls in his name.
They were typically exclamations that encouraged users to click on a web link.
Examples include 'I can't believe this woman lost so much weight! facebookhealth4.com', or 'I made $1,285 today working online! You guys have to check out WorkHomeDream.net to get started too!'
In May this year, Reuters reported that hackers launched 'phishing' attacks on 200 million users on Facebook. -- MY PAPER
ST : A Pact to think green
Dec 5, 2009
A Pact to think green
By Frankie Chee
As part of its one-year commitment, City Square's Fountain Square and City Green, an outdoor park, will be dedicated to environment-related activities and exhibitions. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
THE people behind City Square mall do not want people just to think about shopping.
They also want folk - and tenants in the mall too - to think clean and green.
City Square, owned by property giant City Developments, is the first shopping centre here to join a scheme called Partnership to Activate the Community to Treasure the Environment (Pact).
This initiative by the National Environment Agency and the Central Singapore Community Development Council (CSCDC) was launched at the mall in Kitchener Road on Saturday by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng.
Pact aims to encourage establishments to adopt eco-friendly measures and promote environmental awareness.
As part of its one-year commitment, City Square's Fountain Square and City Green, an outdoor park, will be dedicated to environment-related activities and exhibitions.
A Pact to think green
By Frankie Chee
As part of its one-year commitment, City Square's Fountain Square and City Green, an outdoor park, will be dedicated to environment-related activities and exhibitions. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
THE people behind City Square mall do not want people just to think about shopping.
They also want folk - and tenants in the mall too - to think clean and green.
City Square, owned by property giant City Developments, is the first shopping centre here to join a scheme called Partnership to Activate the Community to Treasure the Environment (Pact).
This initiative by the National Environment Agency and the Central Singapore Community Development Council (CSCDC) was launched at the mall in Kitchener Road on Saturday by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng.
Pact aims to encourage establishments to adopt eco-friendly measures and promote environmental awareness.
As part of its one-year commitment, City Square's Fountain Square and City Green, an outdoor park, will be dedicated to environment-related activities and exhibitions.
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Pre-development Land Investing
In business for over 30 years, success in providing real estate investment opportunities to clients around the world is a simple, yet effective separation of roles and responsibilites. The four pillars of strength guide the land from the research and acquisition, through to the exit, including the distribution of proceeds to our clients ......
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Please contact me Terence Tay @ (+65) 9387-5896 or email : terencetay.kh@gmail.com
To know more how this is really work for you and your clients....
Please contact me Terence Tay @ (+65) 9387-5896 or email : terencetay.kh@gmail.com
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