ST : Home sellers in flood areas may lose out some

Aug 22, 2010

property

Home sellers in flood areas may lose out some

Buyer interest falls, but effect is temporary, say property experts

By Esther Teo

The floodwaters may have long receded, but property agents report that homeowners in flood-affected areas are facing reduced buyer interest.

Industry players say that property bargain hunters, however, might see the floods as a bargaining chip and an opportunity to invest should they chance upon an urgent seller.

They say that the floods are expected to be a temporary problem with drainage improvement works and flood prevention measures slated to be carried out by the Government, after which prices would resume their upward trend.

A number of condominiums in property hot spots, such as the Tessarina and Gentle Reflections in Bukit Timah, had their carparks flooded during heavy rain over the past two months, damaging parked cars and angering residents.

Landed home residents in Opera Estate and Jalan Ma'mor in Balestier woke up to muddy water gushing through their homes on a Saturday morning last month after a storm with nearly twice the force of the two in June battered the central and eastern parts of Singapore.

Managing director of property agency AC MacGyver, Mr Alexs Chua, said homes located in flood-prone areas might need to be priced at an estimated 15 per cent discount compared to those on higher ground.

'It is hard to compensate a buyer who may have to change his furniture whenever it floods,' he said.

Mr Steven Tan, executive director of residential at the OrangeTee agency, said that flood areas were likely to face price resistance in the short term.

'Prices might not necessarily go down, but they might not move as quickly upwards compared to other projects in the area if the problem persists or if buyers remain wary,' he said.

Property agents say that homes in popular areas such as Bukit Timah, Upper Thomson and Telok Kurau are being viewed by reluctant buyers who have lost some interest in projects devastated by the floods. Some sellers are more willing to negotiate on their asking prices.

Fire sale prices, however, are unlikely, agents say, since most sellers are not urgently divesting. But with buyers having more bargaining power now, they may be able to tease out small discounts from more flexible sellers.

PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail said: 'No seller is going to sell a house at a 20 per cent discount just because of the floods, especially when they know the problem is not expected to be a permanent one.'

Knight Frank agent Mindy Yong, who markets the Tessarina condo in Wilby Road, said sellers may be open to offers $20,000 to $50,000 below their asking price.

A property agent who wanted to be known only as Mr Tay said that the current gap in price expectations between buyers and sellers in previously flooded areas has kept the market quiet since the floods.

'Some buyers expected a fire sale and asked for a 20 per cent discount. Of course, sellers refused. But if they ask for a more reasonable 5 per cent discount, then why not?' he said.

Mr Tay added that if no transactions were sealed in the next few months, it was inevitable that some sellers might become desperate and start lowering their selling prices.

However, prices are not expected to stay flat in the long term with the PUB already announcing plans to alleviate flooding in these hot spots, some experts say.

Singapore's water agency said that works will include raising roads as well as widening and deepening drains. Where possible, the works will be expedited.

For example, improvement works in areas like Jalan Ma'mor and Jalan Bahagia will see water flow diverted to Sungei Whampoa and the drains deepened. Tenders for improvement works have also been called last month for the stretch of Bukit Timah Canal between Wilby Road and Maple Avenue.

Mr Colin Tan, research and consultancy director of Chesterton Suntec International, said landlords rather than owner-occupiers are more likely to sell their flood-prone homes as they may decide to reinvest.

While potential gains will be affected, the market is still moving upwards, he said, adding that over the long term, most buyers may forget about the floods.

esthert@sph.com.sg



Fire sale prices at properties like the Tessarina condo in Bukit Timah (above), which had its carpark flooded during heavy rain, are unlikely, say agents, but buyers may be able to tease out small discounts. -- PHOTO: JERRY CHAN

ST : Better service expected

Aug 22, 2010

Better service expected

Service levels in the fragmented and unregulated industry are set to improve once the Estate Agents Bill is passed. This is likely to happen later this year.

Consultations began last year but some details have already been made clear.

There will be higher entry requirements, such as a minimum of four GCE O-level passes and the need to take a mandatory industry examination.

All agencies will have to be licensed and all agents registered.

'Everyone will be responsible for their own actions knowing that they may end up losing their licence and registration number to practise,' said Dennis Wee Group director Chris Koh.

Here are some other changes to expect:

· Code of ethics

The proposed changes also include a code of ethics and professional conduct for agencies as well as property agents, said the Ministry of National Development.

'A failure to observe provisions in the code may render the estate agents and/or the salesman to disciplinary actions under the Bill,' said Mr Norman Ho, a partner at law firm Rodyk & Davidson. 'As such, this code would serve as a means to directly establish and enforce service standards in the industry.'

· No dual representation

The Consumers Association of Singapore has long maintained that agents should not take commissions from both the buyer and the seller as there is a potential conflict of interest.

This notion will largely be met under the new Bill: Agents will not be able to collect commissions from both the buyer and the seller.

In a private home transaction, the buyer's agent will continue the current practice in which he takes a cut of the seller's commission from the seller's agent.

Still, in future, the buyer may want to consider paying his own agent a commission to ensure his interests are best protected, said C&H Realty managing director Albert Lu.

· Standard agreements

Exclusive sale agreements between clients and agents differ from agency to agency, but this will change under the new Bill.

There will be standard agency agreements between clients and agents.

If estate agency services are carried out without this required agreement, the agent will not be able to recover any fees or seek any legal remedy, the Government has said.

Details of this standard form contract have yet to be provided.

But Mr Ho expects that the agreement will greatly standardise the market practice among estate agencies and agents with regard to the scope and standard of services.

ST : Do your checks before signing the cheques

Aug 22, 2010

PROPERTY AGENTS

Do your checks before signing the cheques

Consumers should ensure they know how much commission they're paying and what they get out if it

By Joyce Teo

It is no secret that good agents can make tons of money from helping others buy and sell property, especially in the sort of market we are experiencing now.

But if you are on the sharp end of the deal - the one paying the commission and other fees - you may wonder if you have overpaid your agent when he is driving a BMW and you are still taking the bus.

The Sunday Times looks at how agents earn their keep and the service standards consumers should demand.

· No fixed rate

Agents collect a commission for their services and many will tell you that a 2 per cent seller's commission, for instance, is 'market practice', 'the norm' or that 'everyone pays this amount'.

The truth is that the commission is not fixed and consumers are free to negotiate the amount with the agents.

The Institute of Estate Agents (IEA) used to have guidelines recommending that a Housing Board flat seller pays a minimum 2 per cent of the price as commission, while the buyer pays 1 per cent.

In a private home deal, the guideline called only for the seller to pay a 2 per cent commission.

But in 2008 the Competition Commission of Singapore ruled that these IEA guidelines, which were adopted in 1999, were uncompetitive and must go.

The guidelines were then removed that year.

'Setting rules on commission rates for agents is viewed as anti-competitive and could infringe the Competition Act,' said the Ministry of National Development.

'Instead, consumers are encouraged to find out about the different commission rates charged by different estate agencies and negotiate the rate and service to be provided before engaging them.'

· Current practice

Estate agencies can and do set their own fee guidelines but almost all of them follow the previous commission guidelines, said Institute of Estate Agents president Mohamed Ismail.

Dennis Wee Group director Chris Koh added that agents tend to follow what they are familiar with.

Mr Eric Cheng, chief executive of ECG Property Group, says it trains agents to inform clients of the need to pay a commission to avoid any misunderstanding later on.

'Before you serve any (Housing Board) buyers, you must let them know that they will need to pay a commission,' he said.

Experts say the best time to negotiate the commission rate is at the start of the deal, so if you are not happy, you can opt for another agent. Most people seem resigned to paying the usual commission but there are cases where some have paid more and others less.

'The seller may have signed an exclusive agreement but the commission rate is still subject to negotiation,' said C&H Realty managing director Albert Lu.

Property experts said that some clients have happily paid more when the agent was able to help them clinch a deal at a much higher price.

On the other hand, clients have negotiated to pay 1 to 1.5 per cent if the agent does not get them the agreed selling price, said Mr Koh.

There are also cases where clients may negotiate a lower rate in a quick sale, where there was minimum advertising and effort involved, said Mr Lu.

There are cases where buyers have negotiated the commission down to as low as 0.5 per cent, particularly if they have engaged the same agent to sell their flat earlier, experts said.

The executive director of the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case), Mr Seah Seng Choon, said it has received complaints about agents overcharging for commissions.

'Most of the problems have their roots in the poor quality of service provided, resulting in consumers disputing the commission payable,' he said.

'When agents fail to keep to their side of the bargain, consumers are aggrieved and feel the commission payable should also be reviewed. Such disputes occurred all the time, even when the fee guidelines were in place.'

· What are you paying for?

Consumers should be clear on what they are getting for their buck.

Arranging for viewings is just one aspect of an agent's work.

To earn his commission, the agent should also advise the buyer on suitable properties and 'highlight the pros and cons of the properties viewed and negotiate prices on the buyer's behalf', said the chief executive of the Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies, Dr Tan Tee Khoon.

'In HDB resale transactions, the buyer's appointed agent would take the buyer through the entire process, from the paperwork and documentation through to the second appointment at HDB.'

And before the deal is closed, the agent will arrange for a final flat inspection to make sure that everything is in order.

This includes checking the inventory list and ensuring that items such as the air-conditioning system or lighting fixtures are in place, said Mr Ismail, who is also the chief executive of Propnex.

If there are problems, the buyers' agent can delay the completion of the deal, he said.

HDB flat sellers typically pay a higher commission because of the additional advertising cost involved.

'An agent can easily spend $300 to $400 a month on twice-a-week classified advertisements,' said Mr Ismail.

In private home deals, buyers typically do not pay a commission as their agent will typically take a cut of 0.5 per cent of the purchase price from the seller's agent, he said.

But there are exceptions. Agents serving foreign buyers new to Singapore usually charge a fee. This is because they provide extra services such as picking them up from the airport and taking them to the hotel, and then escorting them on the house hunt while advising them on the market.

Consumers should also know that agents do not keep the entire commission. Agencies typically take a cut of 10 to 30 per cent from each agent's deal.

New agents may get 70 per cent of the commission while the agency keeps 30 per cent, said Mr Koh.

'At the end of the day, it is whether the agent can help you close the deal at the price you want,' said Mr Lu.

'If they are looking after your interests, they will help you negotiate a good price. That will be worth more than the commission you are paying them.'

joyceteo@sph.com.sg

ST : Look Ma, it's raining inside

Aug 21, 2010

home & garden

Look Ma, it's raining inside

It is not only difficult to pinpoint the cause of leakages, but it is also problematic to resolve

By huang huifen

A thunderstorm woke up business manager Ray Ang and his family at 5am two months ago. But it was more than deafening thunderclaps that did it - the booms were followed by the sound of water splashing.

The family got out of their beds and saw rainwater gushing into the room of Mr Ang's father through a hole in the false ceiling of the double-storey terrace house in Bukit Timah. The leak was so bad, it also caused water damage in other rooms on the second floor.

Mr Ang's daughter, Tabitha, 24, says: 'We couldn't sleep after that. With the continuous heavy rain, we were afraid the whole ceiling would collapse.'

As a temporary measure, Mr Ang screwed a wooden plank into the ceiling to cover the 30cm-long hole. He plans to renovate the house soon and redesign its pitched roof, which he thinks is the cause of the problem.

'The unusually high amount of rainfall overflowed the gutter and caused rainwater to seep through the tiles of the roof and the false ceiling to give way,' says the 54-year-old, whose family has lived in the house for 17 years.

Aside from causing flash floods across the island, the recent heavy rainfall has resulted in water leakage in many houses.

Managing director Francis Lee of Lee Construction, which provides waterproofing application and repair services, says his firm has seen double the number of repair jobs related to damage caused by the rain in the last two months. The figure is up from the usual 10 cases a month.

He adds: 'A heavy rainy season is the time when most areas will see leakage, as buildings, with wear and tear over the years, will not have sufficient waterproofing to withstand the rain.'

Another waterproofing company, Mastercoat Services, reports a 20 per cent increase in repair cases in the last three months. Its director Micky Pang says: 'With the continuous rain, many roofs will leak and need to be re-waterproofed. We have seen six cases a month compared to the usual four cases.'

The recent spate of bad weather in Singapore is providing an unforgiving test of waterproofing systems that are old and worn and improperly or poorly installed.

What makes water leakage more of a pain than other construction problems is that it is often difficult to identify the cause of the leak.

Then, once the exact nature of the leak is pinned down, the affected area may need to be hacked to fix the leak.

For Ms J. Yeo, 50, it took several unsuccessful attempts to fix a leak in her toilet, which affected her direct neighbour below, before she decided to refurbish it.

The decision caused the director of an investment company thousands of dollars and three weeks of inconvenience to the tenants of her Balmoral Road property.

After a ponding test - where an area is flooded with water for about 48 hours to check for seepage - the leak was suspected to be caused by the wear and tear of the old waterproofing membrane.

To repair it, the contractors said the bathroom's floor tiles and concrete had to be hacked and they had to apply a layer of flexible cementitious-based membrane - or a cement-based liquid-applied waterproofing material - to the surface. The leaking has since stopped.

'It was so inconvenient. To make sure this does not happen again, I renovated the affected bathroom in the master bedroom and the common bathroom,' says Ms Yeo.

Depending on the scale of the problem and where the leakage occurs, a typical waterproofing repair work may take days to weeks to complete, and cost a few hundred dollars to $100,000.

Waterproofing is a construction process where layers of chemical membranes such as cementitious, acrylic or polyurethane-based membrane are applied over the surface before the cement is laid.

When waterproofing fails, the affected areas are usually fixed with polyurethane grouting - a hole is drilled into a wall, floor or ceiling and the chemicals are injected into it to seal up the cracks. For more serious cases, the entire area may need to be hacked and re-waterproofed.

For leaking roofs, re-waterproofing and re-tiling should solve the problem, at a cost ranging from $1,000 to $100,000.

Obviously, the key to avoiding such hassles is to have good waterproofing workmanship done right at the construction stage. But that is easier said than done.

In an industry where fast is good and cheap is gold, waterproofing specialists say they are not given enough time to cure the material and conduct watertightness tests to ensure a foolproof system before the next group of workers starts work.

A waterproofing process takes a few days, including time taken to cure and strengthen the membrane as well as to conduct a 48-hour ponding test.

And even after all this is done correctly, during the course of the rest of the construction, the waterproofing might be damaged by other workers and this might not be reported to the main contractor.

'As a result, waterproofing specialists are not alerted to touch up the openings in the waterproofing membrane,' says Ms Teresa Lim of Quicseal Construction Chemicals, a manufacturer and supplier of waterproofing materials.

There is another possible problem.

Mr Lee of Lee Construction says: 'Nowadays, as long as you have money, you can set up a company and get the general workers to do waterproofing. But waterproofing is a high-skilled work which requires training.'

As such, the Waterproofing Trades Association Singapore, which was set up in 2008 to promote exchange of information among the industry players, will be releasing two guidebooks on material selection and instructions on waterproofing application methods.

Currently, similar guidelines are available under the National Productivity and Quality Specifications project by the Building and Construction Authority, Singapore Institute of Architects, Institution of Engineers Singapore and Association of Consulting Engineers Singapore.

The guidebooks will be 'more specific and a practical guide to waterproofing', says Mr Alfred Lim, president of the association.

For HDB flats, HDB's website provides renovation guidelines on waterproofing requirements. Home owners also cannot replace the original waterproofed toilet floor and wall tiles for three years after getting the keys to a new flat.

Despite these guidelines, about 64 of the 72 disputes between neighbours brought before the Strata Titles Boards last year involved leaks. Properties with strata titles are private residential apartments such as condominiums and mixed development with commercial and residential in one building.

In 2005, the board made owners of upper-floor units responsible for water leaks as a result of wear and tear through their floors. Under the HDB Lease, both residents of the upper- and lower-floor units share the responsibility.

No matter what guidelines are in place and adhered to, the sobering truth, experts say, is that all buildings will face leakage at some point in time. Only the degree of leakage differs, says Mr Lee.

Mr Ashvin Kumar, president of the Singapore Institute of Architects, adds: 'When there are freak weather conditions, like a once-in-50-years severe storm, no building can be detailed sufficiently or appropriately to address the ramifications of such havoc.'

hfhuang@sph.com.sg


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STOP THE FLOW

Signs of water leakage

· Flaking on the ceiling

· Water dripping from the ceiling

· White crystallisation appearing near the exposed pipe areas

· Dampness on walls, ceilings and floor slabs

What to do

· Engage a trusted contractor. The Singapore Concrete Institute, a non-profit organisation, has a list of accredited waterproofing firms on its website (www.scinst.org.sg).

· The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) also has a list of registered waterproofing contractors on its website (www.bca.gov.sg).

In addition, it has a Good Industry Practices Guide Book on its website for industry players and home owners to find out more about the standards of waterproofing internal wet areas and external walls.

Sources: Quicseal Construction Chemicals, Bestcoat Contract Services and Singapore Institute of Architects


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'It was so inconvenient. To make sure this does not happen again, I renovated the affected bathroom in the master bedroom and the common bathroom'

Ms J. Yeo, whose toilet in her condo apartment leaked and affected her neighbour



After a 30cm hole in the ceiling (above) let rainwater gush into a room in Mr Ray Ang?s house, the business manager boarded it up with a wooden plank. -- ST PHOTOS: AIDAH RAUF

ST : One more station for Downtown Line

Aug 21, 2010

One more station for Downtown Line

It will be in Jalan Besar; Stage 3 serving the east to be completed by 2017

By Christopher Tan

STAGE 3 of the MRT Downtown Line, connecting the eastern suburbs of Changi, Tampines, Bedok and MacPherson to the Marina Bay downtown area, will be 21km long and have 16 stations.

This makes it 2km longer and gives it one station more than originally planned.

Stage 3 of the Downtown Line will offer commuters in parts of the island now unserved by the rail network an alternative transport choice.

'For instance, a person living in Tampines and working in the Kaki Bukit industrial estate will take half the time to get to work,' said Transport Minister Raymond Lim yesterday, adding that his 25-minute journey by bus today will be cut down to just 10 minutes by train.

Someone living near Bedok Reservoir heading for Chinatown will need only 35 minutes to get there, compared with 50 minutes today, added Mr Lim as he announced the long-awaited alignment of the third and final stage of the Downtown Line.

Tampines resident Francis Tan, 49, said: 'This is great. I can go almost anywhere in Singapore.'

The line stretches from Singapore Expo in the east to Liang Court in River Valley in the south. Stops will include Tampines East, Bedok Town Park, Kampong Ubi, Kaki Bukit and Kallang Bahru.

It will wind through some of the busiest parts of the city, including Sungei Road and Bencoolen Street.

The extra station will be in Jalan Besar.

'This was added to meet the needs of workers commuting to and from the nearby industrial estates and other future developments in the area,' said Mr Lim during his visit to the soon-to-open one-north station on the Circle Line.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said the original $12 billion budget for the whole Downtown Line - all 42km and 34 stations of it - will be busted, but it would not say by how much.

Stage 1 of the Downtown Line is in the city area; Stage 2 goes to Bukit Panjang, via Bukit Timah.

With Stage 3 now a slightly bigger project, it will take longer to complete - 2017 instead of 2016, said Mr Lim.

Stage 3 will cost more to build as a result, given that construction costs have risen sharply since plans for the Downtown Line were unveiled in 2007.

The later year of completion, however, is still earlier than the 2018 deadline first set three years ago.

Asked whether the longer duration of works will also push back the deadlines of future projects such as the Thomson and Eastern Region lines, the LTA said it has to finish preparatory works and engineering studies for a clearer picture of the completion dates of the other lines.

Downtown Line Stage 3 will have three interchanges: MacPherson station, which connects to the Circle Line, and the Tampines and Expo stations, which connect to the East-West Line.

The Straits Times understands that the River Valley station could be an interchange that hooks up with the Thomson Line, currently slated to be up by 2018.

Tenders for Downtown Line Stage 3 contracts will start going out later this month, and physical works are expected to commence in the middle of next year.

Construction will involve some property acquisitions - a Shell station in Upper Changi Road East, two parking lots in Bencoolen House, part of a food court in Peony Mansion, vacant spaces behind Kaki Bukit Techpark and Techview Building, as well as a vacant plot next to Plaza By The Park.

Fifteen landed houses in Merpati Road and Jalan Anggerek in MacPherson will be acquired; the space, with an adjacent tract of state land, will be redeveloped into high-density housing.

Mr Lim, in an update on the Circle Line, said it is on track to be fully open next year.

The remaining two stages - from Marymount to HarbourFront via Holland Village, one-north and Botanic Gardens - are near completion.

An LTA spokesman said the stations are expected to receive their Temporary Occupation Permits later this year. Testing and commissioning works will start in the following months.

christan@sph.com.sg

BT : JTC offers two sites for sale by tender

Business Times - 21 Aug 2010

JTC offers two sites for sale by tender

By MELISSA TAN

JTC said yesterday that two sites - at Yishun and the Biopolis - will be put up for sale by tender. The site at Yishun Street 23/Yishun Avenue 9 is 4.65 ha and has a 60-year lease. Near Yishun Industrial Park, it is to be developed as a ramp-up factory with direct vehicle access to all units. It will be launched on Monday and sold under the Industrial Government Land Sales programme. The tender closes on Oct 4.

The Biopolis phase five site, for laboratory buildings at one-north, will be launched through the Concept and Price Tender programme. The land area is 0.96 ha, with a 30-plus-30 years renewal tenure. The launch date is Oct 4 and developers will have until Dec 3 to submit tenders.

JTC said details for the two tenders will be published on its website on the launch dates.

The tenders were announced at JTC's Industrial Property Exchange conference yesterday. JTC chief executive Manohar Khiatani said JTC is 'mindful that an efficient and competitive industrial space market is crucial for Singapore's manufacturing sector'.

JTC will work with the Ministry of Trade and Industry to 'continue to provide adequate land supply through the various land-launch mechanisms', he said.

Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

BT : First Chevron House, then Hitachi Tower

Business Times - 21 Aug 2010

First Chevron House, then Hitachi Tower

Deals involving the two prominent buildings may shake up the office market

By KALPANA RASHIWALA

CHEVRON House could be the next big office deal on the cards, say market watchers. This follows the sale of about $1.9 billion worth of office blocks so far this year. Chevron House was bought by Goldman Sachs funds in late 2007 for $730 million or about $2,780 per sq ft of net lettable area and the purchase was mostly funded by a consortium of lenders led by Standard Chartered. That financing facility is understood to be expiring in October and the bankers and Goldman Sachs are said to be weighing their options.

BT understands that potential buyers have been knocking on the doors of Goldman Sachs and the lenders and that property agents could soon be appointed to conduct a sale process such as a tender or expression of interest. 'The way I look at it, Goldman could have about three options - seek refinancing, bring in a joint venture partner or sell the asset completely,' suggests an industry observer.

Analysts say that the consortium of banks could have loaned the Goldman funds about 65 per cent of the 2007 purchase price, which would work out to about $1,800 psf of net lettable area. The loan-to-value covenant on the financing facility would have been breached sometime ago following the steep slide in office capital values last year. Interest coverage ratio for Chevron House would also have fallen on lease renewals in the building; average Grade A office rents in Singapore today are about $9 psf a month, or 40 per cent lower than the $15 psf three years ago.

Analysts polled by BT estimate the property could fetch anything from about $1,900 psf to $2,200 psf (or about $500 million to $577 million). The most recent benchmark would be the $2,125 psf that Ho Bee achieved when it sold four office floors at Samsung Hub at Church Street. While Samsung Hub is a much newer asset and stands on a site with superior leasehold tenure (999 years) than Chevron House (which is on a site with 78 years' remaining lease), the latter boasts a more choice location next to Raffles Place MRT Station.

Goldman Sachs funds also bought Hitachi Tower, behind Chevron House, in early 2008 for $811 million or about $2,900 psf of NLA. Stanchart also heads the consortium of lenders for that purchase; the financing facility is said to end early next year. So a sale of Hitachi Tower could also be on the cards a little later down the road.

Hitachi Tower would be worth more than Chevron House, say analysts, citing its superior land tenure (999 years) and facing (along Collyer Quay). However, one drawback about the asset is the impending departure of American Express - which is said to occupy about 70,000 sq ft - to Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 2.

Last week, Goldman Sachs funds sold DBS Towers One and Two along Shenton Way for $870.5 million or around $970 psf of NLA, marking the biggest commercial property deal in Singapore since mid-2008. Goldman Sachs reaped a profit from that deal, having paid $690 million for the property in 2005.

Some of the blocks sold this year were 'pure office' deals, that is the buyers bought the assets on their existing office use - such as 1 Finlayson Green and Robinson Point - while others such as Chow House and StarHub Centre were probably acquired for their potential for redevelopment into other uses.

Interest from both local and foreign investors in the Singapore office market has been warming on the back of recovering office rentals and the easier climate for fund-raising.

Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.



CHEVRON HOUSE
Bought by Goldman Sachs funds in 2007 for $730m or about $2,780 per sqft of net lettable area