News Highlights Tuesday 8 July_2008

Active weekend for property launches
It was another fairly active weekend for mass to mid-market property launches - most notably at Livia, a large Pasir Ris development where 160 units were snapped up. Since Friday, buyers have snapped up 80% of the 200 units first released at the 724-unit Livia. These 99-year leasehold homes went for between $570 psf and $740 psf. A two-bedroom unit starts from $597,000, while a three-bedder costs $793,000 and up. City Developments said most buyers were Singaporeans. Others were from China, Indonesia, India, Malaysia and the Philippines. Another new project - the freehold, 50-unit D'Pavilion - registered sales of 10 units at $900 psf on average during its weekend preview. Prices at this MCL Land project ranged from $867,500 to $1.57 million. Centurion Properties sold another 30 units of the 521-unit Kovan Residences over the weekend, lifting total sales to more than 80. The 99-year leasehold project was selling at between $870 psf and $900 psf. Sim Lian Group sold 59 more units of the 616-unit Clover by the Park in Bishan, putting total sales at 254 units. Prices for the remaining units at the 99-year leasehold Clover by the Park ranged from $867,000 to $2.38 million. The same developer also sold four units of the freehold, 78-unit The Amery in Telok Kurau over the weekend, putting total sales at 31 units. Meanwhile, total sales at the 348-unit Dakota Residences in Dakota Crescent have hit 160 units, after another 10 were sold at the weekend. Hayden Properties starts to preview The Hamilton Scotts this week. Prices are expected to start below $3,000 psf, though the average price is expected to be around $3,500 psf.

- The Straits Times, H18 (also see The Business Times, P32)





CBD offices still available at $6-9 psf a month
The average Grade A office monthly rental in Singapore was $18.80 psf in Q2. But at Cecil Street, Robinson Road, Shenton Way and Tanjong Pagar, some small pockets of space ranging from a few hundred sqft to 3,000 sqft are asking rents ranging from $6 to $9 psf. These buildings are mainly offices on the fringe of Raffles Place and are mainly older and have smaller floor plates. They are mostly sandwiched between other buildings and offer very limited or no car park lots, said Knight Frank. Tenants willing to pay slightly higher rents but lower than Grade A rates also have options in the CBD. At UIC Building on Shenton Way, the asking rental is said to be about $11 psf. In more prime buildings such as the Arcade near Raffles Place MRT Station and 8 Shenton Way, asking rents are higher, around $10.50-14.50 psf and $12-14 psf respectively. Bigger office spaces in the CBD are also becoming available, partly due to the government moving its agencies out of the CBD to ease the acute shortage of prime offices.

- The Business Times, P32




China Jingye to build Universal Studios S'pore
Resorts World at Sentosa said that it awarded a $705 million contract to a Chinese company for infrastructural work at Universal Studios Singapore. The contractor, China Jingye Engineering Corporation, is a subsidiary of the Chinese government-linked China Metallurgical Corporation group.

- The Business Times, P31




Dubai International looking to Asia in 2008
Dubai International Capital LLC, the asset management firm with more than US$12 billion, said any investments made in 2008 will be in Asia. The firm has earmarked US$5 billion over the next two-to-three years for Asia, especially China and India. The company's chief executive officer said that cash is the best option for now. Infrastructure, construction and services are the industries that the fund is focused on, as well as on companies that can benefit from growth in Dubai and neighbouring countries.

- The Business Times, P19



South Korea warns of forex intervention
The won jumped more than 1% against the US dollar after the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Bank of Korea said in a joint statement that they would act to underpin the currency. The statement convinced analysts that US dollar-selling interventions were right now the authorities' weapon of choice in their battle with inflation and that interest rates will remain on hold. Annual inflation spiked to a near 10-year high of 5.5% in June.

- The Business Times, P14



Business climate index continues to drop in Q2
China's business climate index, a key gauge of corporate performance, continued to drop year-on- year in the second quarter despite a slight recovery from the first quarter. The index, based on a survey of 19,500 Chinese firms, rose to 137.4 points in the second quarter from 136.2 in the first quarter, but 8.6 points down from last year's second quarter. Rising costs and tightened credit, contributed to the index fall. Compared with the first quarter, the real estate sector stayed at almost the same level of climate index at 131.8 points.

- The Business Times, P17



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