The best property analysis released these days is not about the red-hot en bloc fever, or the optimistic projection of possible growth for the property market in 2018. The only recent piece of analysis that leaves much food for thought is Ku Swee Yong’s three-part articles on "Big Singapore Market Upgrade – Hype or Reality?" where he questions Morgan Stanley’s remarks about … [Read more...]
Chinese developers: Who exactly are they?
Since the start of the year, cash-rich property developers from mainland China have been actively participating in Government Land Sales (GLS) tenders. Aiming to expand their footprint in Singapore, they have set new records in bidding prices for residential sites. This is no doubt a big windfall for the government. But not for local developers who may be involuntarily … [Read more...]
En bloc sale – the good, the bad and the ugly
Spring Grove is the latest condominium jumping on the en bloc sale bandwagon. Almost every week, there is an announcement of a new privatized HUDC estate or old project putting up for sale. Recent candidates joining the collective sale craze include Braddell View, Pine Grove, Changi Garden, Amber Park, Jervois Gardens, Florence Regency and Normanton Park. Developers are … [Read more...]
What we can learn from cockroaches to survive the next crisis
Typhoon Hato lashed Southern China two weeks ago. Hong Kong and Macau were struck head-on with strong winds and heavy rain. A widely-shared youtube video of Macau showed thousands of cockroaches getting out of their underground hiding places and crawling one after the other over a sea wall. It was a well-coordinated effort to march to higher grounds to flee from possible … [Read more...]
Recovery? What recovery?
Property news from the media can be very confusing these days. Headlines of articles on a single day can be totally contradictory to each other. On Monday August 14, Business Times had an article “Analysts upbeat on property, tech after Q2's mixed earnings”. Flip the Straits Times on the same day and there’s a headline “More firms closing amid tough economy”. Such … [Read more...]