Many Japanese fear they may eventually start paying more for mortgages (Getty Images)
In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, the Bank of Japan’s U-turn on ultra-low rates triggers heartburn among mortgage borrowers, and Singapore awaits an influx of new housing supply.
Japanese Homeowners Face an Unfamiliar Headache: Higher Mortgages
When salaryman Takayuki Nakamura bought his Tokyo home last year, he got a floating-rate mortgage at a rock-bottom 0.35 percent and an assurance from the real estate agent that rates weren’t going anywhere. After this week, he’s not sure.
“On Tuesday, all of a sudden I’m hearing the interest rates are going up,” said the 48-year-old father of two. “It’s kind of obvious that I’m going to end up paying more.” Read more>>
New Home Influx May Ease SG Rental Pressures, but Supply Crunch Looms
The influx of new homes in 2023 may ease Singapore’s rental pressures, but the jury is still out on whether home leasing activity will slow or stay robust.
Over 18,000 new private homes, excluding executive condominiums, are slated for completion next year, OrangeTee said Friday. A bulk (9,139 units) of the new home completions are located in the Outside of Central Region, followed by the Rest of Central Region (6,617 units) and the Core Central Region (2,478 units). Read more>>
Singapore En Bloc Tenders Close Without Bids
The collective sale tender for People’s Park Centre and Loyang Valley recently closed without bids, making them the latest en bloc sites not to find buyers this year.
For People’s Park Centre, this is the 99-year leasehold mixed development’s second attempt at a collective sale. It was first put up on 6 July at a reserve price of S$1.8 billion ($1.3 billion), closing on 18 August with no bids. Read more>>
Lum Chang Wins S$110M Deal to Build Hotel Along Singapore’s Orchard Road
Singapore construction player Lum Chang’s wholly owned subsidiary Lum Chang Building Contractors has secured a tender to build a 19-storey hotel along Orchard Road for S$110 million ($81.5 million).
The contract was awarded by UOL Property Investments and is scheduled to be completed over a 36-month period starting from April next year. The hotel is expected to have 246 rooms with ancillary facilities, the company said Thursday. Read more>>
Alibaba Launches Third Japan Data Centre in Tokyo
Alibaba has launched a new data centre in Tokyo, marking the third facility in Japan under the Alibaba Cloud/Aliyun unit.
“The third data centre launch underscores our continuous commitment to serving local Japanese customers’ digital transformation demands,” said Unique Song, general manager for Japan at Alibaba Cloud Intelligence. “With our proven innovations and competitive solutions that meet strict security and compliance requirements, we are determined in our mission to support our customers in the digital era.” Read more>>
Swire Hits First Closing on Buyout of Chengdu Project
Swire Properties has achieved the first closing in its RMB 5.55 billion ($800 million) buyout of Sino-Ocean Group’s interest in the partners’ Chengdu mall development.
Beijing-based Sino-Ocean is selling its half-stake in the project to Swire via a series of three transactions until the end of next April. Read more>>
Regency Park Penthouse Is Singapore’s Top 2022 Housing Transaction
The sale of a 6,415 square foot (596 square metre) penthouse at Regency Park on Singapore’s Nathan Road was the most profitable transaction in the city-state for the year, changing hands for S$14.1 million ($10.5 million) on 31 August.
The seller bought the unit for S$5.5 million in April 1998, thus reaping a profit of $8.6 million (156.6 percent) on the transaction or an annualised profit of 3.9 percent over nearly 24 and a half years. Read more>>
Lotte Mulls Building Transit Hubs in Retail Stores for Air Taxis, Drones
South Korea’s Lotte Engineering & Construction Co says it’s considering building vertiports on the rooftops of its retail affiliates, such as Lotte Department Store and Lotte Mart.
Vertiports refer to sites for electric vertical take-off and landing and are essential for the operation of air taxis and drones. Read more>>
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