News Highlights Monday 21 April 2008

First-quarter home price data due on Friday
The Government will release information on property prices and rents for the first three months of the year on Friday. Preliminary estimates of first-quarter home prices earlier this month showed that the boom over the past two years is now flattening out. Prices have mostly held steady, but the strain is starting to show, with developers and home owners beginning to lower their offers. Friday's data will allow more in-depth analysis into the softening market and help experts predict if it will weaken further.

- The Straits Times, P17




S'pore luxury home prices surge 31%
When it comes to luxury homes in prime locations, Singapore had the eighth-most expensive properties in the world last year. Average prices of top-end properties rose by 31% to £1,197 (S$3,232) psf, the sixth-biggest price jump globally, according to a survey by Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank. Their 2008 Annual Wealth Report found that the prices of luxury homes around the world increased, on average, by 11% last year.

- The Straits Times, H17



Tricky to convert old schools into offices
It was an unusual proposition by the Government: Turn old, empty school buildings into functional offices fit for companies to occupy. Firms hit by the acute office crunch last year responded by taking up former schools leased out by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), drawn by their attractive locations, sizeable grounds and low rentals. This was part of the Government’s efforts to meet the immediate needs of companies forced out of the central areas by office shortages and soaring rents. Since February last year, the SLA has tendered out 15 vacant buildings, including schools and community centres. But 2 companies that won SLA’s tenders ended up busting their renovation budgets tackling problems such as a lack of power supply, flooding grounds and missing blueprints.

- The Straits Times, H20



Converted buildings offer huge payoffs
When the former Pasir Panjang ITE building at 991 Alexandra Road was put up for tender last year, property investment firm Richzone jumped at what it saw as a prize plot. The site offered 265,000 sq ft of office space in an established commercial and industrial zone. But it broke the budget because of inflated construction costs and unexpected expenses. Still, the work has paid off - the first phase of offices has been fully taken up by big-name tenants. Another company, Hean Nerng, was also attracted by the size of former Gan Eng Seng Secondary School - it sits on a 290,626 sq ft plot in Raeburn Park near Outram - and its low rent. Hean Nerng is paying about $200,000 a month, or $1.25 psf, and sub-letting the converted offices at about $4.50 psf. About 40% of the building has been occupied.

- The Straits Times, H18



Leng Beng breaks the mould with business budget hotel
Hotel and property tycoon Kwek Leng Beng is finalising a ‘business budget hotel’ concept, aimed at executives who don't want the frills but require high-tech amenities in their rooms. The first such hotel here will be a 370-room property that will open at Mohamed Sultan Road early next year. It is being developed by Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C), the London-listed hotel arm of City Developments Ltd (CDL). Yesterday was the official opening of St Regis Singapore. The 299-room hotel, said to be worth about $1.2 million a room, as well as the next door 173-unit St Regis Residences, were developed by a joint venture involving CDL, Hong Leong Holdings Ltd and TID Pte Ltd. TID is a partnership between the Hong Leong Group and Japan's leading real estate company Mitsui Fudosan. To date, 157 of the 173 units at St Regis Residences have been sold.

- The Business Times, P1




Sea View condo comes with a piece of local history
Residents of Wheelock Properties' new The Sea View condominium will be able to have a classic piece of Singapore's history in their estate. Conservation work on the stately Neo-classical style bungalow off Amber Road formerly known as Pavilion has been completed. Pavilion was built in the early 1900s and was owned by the Elias family, an established Jewish family at the time. The developer spent $1.3 million on conservation, retrofitting and furnishing the 5,000 sq ft double-storey clubhouse which will house two games rooms, a multi-purpose room with a pantry and a function room.

- The Business Times, P7



UWC to open green campus
United World College (UWC) South-east Asia's second campus in Tampines, to be ready in 2010, will be an eco-friendly one. The green features in the $300 million school for students aged 5 to 18 will cut energy consumption by 25%. It will also have a 19-storey boarding house for foreign students here on scholarships. The campus was planned to mop up demand from the growing number of expatriates here. It will take in 2,500 students eventually, compared to the 2,900 at its Dover campus. The rising number of expatriates - up from 798,000 in 2005 to 875,500 in 2006 - is putting a squeeze on international schools here.

- The Straits Times, H6




Bullish 3Com to ramp up Singapore operations
3Com continued to grow its Singapore operations and will be investing more here in the coming months. The investment will add significant headcount in the company's sales team. The US networking equipment maker disclosed last week that its revenue in Singapore surged by 80% from last September to February this year.

- The Straits Times, P30