News Highlights Friday 4 April 2008

Subsidized HDB rental flats in greater demand now
The number of people applying for heavily subsidized HDB rental flats has shot up by at least 30% in the past few months – to about 4,000 eligible applicants on the waiting list now. Not all applicants are needy or have urgent housing needs. HDB is increasing the supply of rental flats from the current 43,000 units to 50,000 over the next few years and reviewing the eligibility criteria for rental housing to help the “genuinely poor”.

- The Straits Times, H1




It’s wait-and-see for Pender Court, Tulip Garden home owners
Their collective sale deals may be in doubt but some owners at Pender Court and Tulip Garden are taking a wait-and-see attitude for now. Some have already received their share of the deposit and those who have already bought new homes in anticipation of the collective sales going through say they will be open to renting out either of their two properties. Both condos were bought by Bravo Building Construction last year but Bravo has postponed the settlement dates of both sales.

- The Straits Times, H28




Al-Futtaim bags Robinson after Lippo accepts offer
Dubai-based investor Al-Futtaim Group managed to acquire more than 50% of Robinson & Co when the Lippo Group decided to tender into the offer. Al-Futtaim’s offer for Robinson is now unconditional, i.e. the deal will have to go through. Al-Futtaim has also extended the deadline for its offer to April 30 and raised its bid price to $7.20 a share, from $7 previously.

- The Business Times, P1




Occupancy at business parks his five-year high
According to CBRE, the occupancy rate grew from 89.4% at end-2007 to an estimated 90.2% at end-March 2008. This was attributed to the current tight availability of office supply in the CBD which saw some financial institutions relocating part of their operations to Changi Business Park. The office space crunch also pushed the average occupancy rate for high-tech space up by 1.3% quarter on quarter to 94.1% at the end of first quarter 2008. Some 6 million sq ft of business parks are expected to be completed from 2008 to 2011, while only 1.5 million sq ft of high-tech space is expected to come onstream in 2011.

- The Business Times, P2




Just 2 bids for Ten Mile Junction site
The public tender for a site at Choa Chu Kang Road and Woodlands Road has closed with just two bids received. The site, on which the state-owned Ten Mile Junction currently sits, received a bid of $61 million or about $162.40 psf ppr from Peak Green Pte Ltd. The second, lower bid of $45.68 million, or $121.60 psf ppr, was put in by Sim Lian Land. The site, which has a residential gross floor area of 254,394 sq ft, could have between 200 to 240 apartments. CBRE said that the breakeven price for the newly developed residential project will be around $400 psf, translating to a possible selling price of about $500 psf.

- The Business Times, P10