News Highlights Wednesday 18 June 2008

URA plot facing Bedok Reservoir up for sale
A 99-year leasehold condo plot at Tampines Ave 1/10 fronting Bedok Reservoir, launched yesterday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, is likely to draw modest bids ranging from $200 to $300 psf of potential gross floor area. On the other side of Bedok Reservoir, in a more choice spot, Frasers Centrepoint and Far East Organization are understood to have sold about 140 units at Waterfront Waves. The average price is about $800 psf for reservoir-facing units and around $750 psf for pool-facing units. Waterfront Waves has better views all round whereas the URA site is kind of tucked in a corner, said Cushman & Wakefield. CBRE projected a project on the site may fetch an average price of around $700 psf. Current prices of nearby condos such as The Tropica, Aquarius By The Park and The Clearwater are $550 - $670 psf, while those at Baywater, a recently completed condominium, are around $600-$680 psf. The plot has a land area of 341,650 sq ft and a 2.1 plot ratio.

- The Business Times, P10




Rising construction costs put squeeze on builders
Construction costs have risen by at least about 13% in Singapore in the six months to end-March. And for the residential/condominium segment, costs have risen by as much as 16%, according to a report by construction cost consultancy Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB). The rise comes in the light of a 23 per cent increase in the Building and Construction Authority's tender price index in Q4 2007 on a year-on-year basis. At the top end in Q1 2008, the construction cost for a luxury condominium and a 55-storey office comes to as much as $4,000-$5,500 and $4,960-$5,660 psm per gross floor area. The effect of rising costs is that more projects could be delayed if a construction company is unable to shoulder the higher costs.

- The Business Times, P1




S. Korean investment bank opens S'pore office
Woori Investment and Securities Asia, part of South Korea's Woori Financial Group, is the first Korean investment bank to open here. It has invested US$50 million (S$68.9 million) to set up its office at the OUB Centre. Operations started yesterday with a staff strength of 15 but the firm, which will also trade securities and offer real estate services, hopes to double that over the next year. Woori will also start a hedge fund - Woori Absolute Partners - which should be registered by the end of next month.
- The Straits Times, H20

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