Singapore’s home market resumed its slide after a brief recovery
Singapore home sales lead today’s headline roundup as transaction numbers for new units turn sour after a brief uptick. Also in the news, a plan to create Singapore’s second CBD suffers a setback and China suspends accounting giant PwC’s operations for six months.
August Singapore Home Sales Down 47% From 2023
A brief recovery in Singapore new-home sales ran out of steam as transactions fell to their lowest level since February. Sales of new private homes dropped to 208 in August, more than halving from the 571 units sold a month before and sliding 47 percent from a year earlier.
Transaction numbers have been hindered by the lack of major residential projects for sale, as developers turn cautious amid high interest rates and multiple housing curbs. So far that hasn’t translated to a drop in prices, with sales, particularly in the second-hand market, propping up valuations. Read more>>
Singapore Government Rejects Jurong Lake District Bid as Too Cheap
The Singapore government’s ambitious plan to create a second central business district in the Jurong East region has hit a snag. A five-member consortium’s bid for a mega white site that would kick-start development of the upcoming Jurong Lake District has been rejected as “too low”, and the tender will not be awarded, the Urban Redevelopment Authority said Friday.
The tender for the 6.5 hectare (16.1 acre) site closed on 26 March with a sole bidder submitting two concept proposals. The heavyweight consortium comprised five major players: CapitaLand Development, City Developments Ltd, Frasers Property, Mitsubishi Estate and Mitsui Fudosan. Read more>>
PwC Slapped With Record Penalty for Evergrande Audit Work
China suspended the operations of PricewaterhouseCoopers for six months and imposed a record penalty over lapses in its auditing of China Evergrande.
The accounting firm was fined RMB 441 million ($62 million) for its auditing work on Evergrande’s inflated financial reports from 2018 to 2020, statements by the Ministry of Finance and the China Securities Regulatory Commission showed Friday. The regulator also ordered the closure of PwC’s branch in Guangzhou. Read more>>
China Home Price Slide Accelerated in August
China’s new home prices fell at the fastest pace in more than nine years in August, official data showed Saturday, as supportive measures failed to spur a meaningful recovery in the property sector.
New-home prices were down 5.3 percent from a year earlier, the fastest pace since May 2015, compared with a 4.9 percent slide in July, according to Reuters calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics data. Read more>>
Chow Tai Fook, FEC-Backed Star Risks Losing New South Wales Casino Licence
The New South Wales Independent Casino Commission has issued a show-cause notice against troubled gaming group The Star Entertainment that could result in a A$100 million ($67.4 million) fine and the loss of its Sydney casino licence.
The NICC said the notice seeks a response as to why the regulator should not take disciplinary action against Star in respect of breaches substantiated in the Bell II report. Read more>>
India’s Biggest IPO of 2024 Draws $39B in Bids
The home-loan unit of India’s largest shadow lender drew a blockbuster response for its share-sale debut, highlighting continued investor exuberance over listings in the nation.
Bajaj Housing Finance, which sought to raise INR 65.6 billion ($780 million) in the country’s biggest initial public offering of 2024, attracted bids for an estimated $39 billion on the last day of the sale on Wednesday. That is more than 1 percent of the country’s GDP for the fiscal year ended 2024. Read more>>
Chinese Office Landlords Ramp Up Incentives to Attract Tenants
More landlords in mainland China are willing to offer corporate tenants furnished office space to increase occupancy as a financial squeeze hobbles businesses from financial institutions to retail chain operators.
Such incentives have become necessary to lure tenants with limited budgets as competition intensifies amid glut worries, said Fion Zhang, head of office, advisory and transaction services at CBRE China. Read more>>
Japanese Bank Offers Mortgages to Offshore Homebuyers
For people outside of Japan who want to get into the country’s buoyant property market, one tiny local bank is helping to make that possible.
Tokyo Star Bank is offering accounts and loans for non-residents to buy real estate in Japan, a service that it says has grown rapidly since its launch last year. Japan’s weak yen and low interest rates have drawn overseas interest in Japanese property and boosted prices. Read more>>
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