New private home sales in Singapore stayed strong for the fourth consecutive month, rising nearly four percent in April from March, data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed.
Developers in Singapore sold 2,487 residential units last month, up from 2,393 in March, URA said on Tuesday.
Including executive condominiums, a category of apartments reserved mainly for Singaporeans, April sales totalled 2,660 units, down from 3,032 in March.
The volume of property transactions in Singapore have strengthened since December 2011 when developers only managed to sell 632 units amid new government measures to cool the housing market.
Private home prices have eased slightly, however, with URA data showing they dipped 0.1 percent during the first three months of 2012.
Singapore’s housing minister said on Monday the government continues to have concerns about the residential property market, in particular small-sized “shoebox” apartments, and will not hesitate to take more action if needed.
Singapore said the economy grew 1.6% year-on-year in the first quarter, unchanged from its earlier estimate, confounding economists who had predicted an upward revision.
Economists surveyed by Reuters had a consensus forecast of 1.8% growth.
On an annualised and seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis, Singapore’s economy expanded by 10%, slightly above the 9.9% flash estimate released in April.
The weaker-than-expected GDP growth was due to sequential contraction in wholesale and retail trade and the finance and insurance sectors.
Singapore also announced trade data showing non-oil domestic exports rose 8.3% in April from a year earlier, beating expectations as pharmaceutical shipments rose 38%.
April’s non-oil domestic exports were 13.1% higher than March after seasonal adjustments.
Economists had expected non-oil domestic exports to rise 6.9% year-on-year and 5.8% from the month before.
It is the fourth in the group’s portfolio which includes Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Bangkok and Pan Pacific Service Suites Ningbo opening this August.
Following the success of Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Orchard, Singapore which opened in 2008, Pan Pacific Hotels Group will launch another Pan Pacific Serviced Suites in Singapore at the beginning of 2013.
The new 180-room Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Beach Road, Singapore will boast all the unique features – notably its 24-hour Personal Assistants Service that guests and residents enjoy at all Pan Pacific Serviced Suites properties.
This is the fourth Pan Pacific Serviced Suites in the Group’s portfolio – after Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Bangkok and Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Ningbo opening in August. It will complement Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Orchard, Singapore by offering customers an alternative and highly accessible location in the vibrant enclave of Beach Road, bordering the city and the Central Business District.
Outside Singapore, the Group will extend its Pan Pacific and PARKROYAL serviced suites offerings into China with two new properties this year. While Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Ningbo will be part of the Group’s first joint hotel and serviced suites development in China, the opening of PARKROYAL Serviced Suites Green City, Shanghai will mark the debut of the PARKROYAL brand in the country.
The mall will be built on an area of about 242,000 square feet in Taman Melawati, an affluent residential district north-east of Kuala Lumpur.
In a news release, CapitaMalls Asia Limited, Asia’s leading shopping mall developer, owner and manager; and Sime Darby Property, Malaysia’s largest property developer in terms of landbank announced that they have entered into a conditional agreement to form a 50:50 joint venture to develop a shopping mall on a freehold site in Taman Melawati in the Klang Valley, Malaysia.
The site has an area of about 242,000 square feet. It is located in the centre of Melawati township and is the last sizeable plot of commercial land in the township. The township includes Taman Melawati, an established and affluent residential district north-east of Kuala Lumpur city centre and part of the Klang Valley. It is bounded by the established residential areas of Taman Melati, Wangsa Maju, Taman Permata and Kemensah Heights. The site is also near one of the most established international schools in Kuala Lumpur, as well as popular tourist destinations such as Batu Caves and the National Zoo.
CapitaMalls Asia and Sime Darby Property will develop a shopping mall with a total net lettable area of approximately 635,000 sq ft 1 on the site. The shopping mall is expected to be completed in 2016, and will serve a catchment population of around 800,000 people within a 10-minute drive. The total development cost is expected to be about S$204.5 million.
Mr Lim Beng Chee, CEO of CapitaMalls Asia, said: “We are pleased to partner Sime Darby Property to jointly develop this site in Taman Melawati. Sime Darby Property has extensive experience in property development in Malaysia. On our part, CapitaMalls Asia will bring our proven expertise in developing and managing shopping malls around the region.”
“This project marks our first greenfield development in Malaysia. It will be the first major shopping mall in the established and affluent residential district of Taman Melawati, and will cater to the under-served retail needs of the residents there as well as the surrounding neighbourhoods. It will also provide both Malaysian and international retailers the opportunity to expand their presence to an established residential district in the Klang Valley.”
Dato’ Wahab Maskan, Group Chief Operating Officer of Sime Darby Berhad and Managing Director of Sime Darby Property, said: “We are confident that our partnership with CapitaMalls Asia to develop this site in Taman Melawati is the best strategy to maximise the returns on our investment and diversify our income portfolio. The synergistic partnership with CapitaMalls Asia provides us the platform to leverage on their experience as the leading shopping mall developer, owner and manager in Asia.”
“When this commercial development is completed, it is expected to be a catalyst to enhance the overall value of properties within its vicinity. This, in turn, bodes well for our current and upcoming property projects in this area,” he added.
Sime Darby Property has several on-going as well as future projects planned in the Melawati township including Gaya Apartments, superlinked homes Casa Rimba, condominium 3 Residen, service apartments Quarza, and other bungalows, town villas and an office building. These projects will help promote Melawati as a commercial hub of the area.
This development will be CapitaMalls Asia’s sixth mall in Malaysia. CapitaMalls Asia currently owns Queensbay Mall in Penang and, through its stake in CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust, owns Gurney Plaza in Penang, a majority interest in Sungei Wang Plaza in Kuala Lumpur, The Mines in Selangor and East Coast Mall in Kuantan.
A GOOD Class Bungalow (GCB) at Swettenham Road was recently sold for about $25.8 million or $1,714 per square foot on a freehold land area of 15,069 sq ft.
On site is a bungalow that was completed about a year ago and currently tenanted at a monthly rental of slightly over $40,000. The property has two storeys and a basement. It has five bedrooms and a swimming pool. The buyer is understood to be a Singapore citizen.
Newsman Realty is said to have brokered the deal.
A two-storey house at Third Avenue is also understood to have changed hands recently at $13.5 million or $1,536 psf. RealStar represented the buyer, a local businessman. The seller was represented by Singapore Residential Properties.