Suntec REIT To Distribute 2.793 Cents Per Unit For Q3, Up 33%

Source : Channel NewsAsia, 30 July 2008

Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust is planning to distribute 2.793 cents per unit for its fiscal third quarter.

This was 33 per cent higher than the distribution per unit in the year-ago period and also 25 per cent higher than forecast.

The trust's total distributable income came to S$42 million for the three months to June, up 40 per cent on year.

Suntec REIT credited its strong organic growth and asset enhancement of its properties for the better performance.

It said despite the ongoing US sub-prime crisis, both its office and retail portfolios have achieved stronger committed rents compared to the last quarter.

Its office portfolio achieved another strong performance during the quarter. Renewal and replacement leases at Suntec City were secured at higher closing rents of between S$12 and S$15 per square foot per month.

As at 30 June 2008, Suntec REIT's committed occupancy for the overall office portfolio stood at 99.4 per cent.

The trust said it has no major refinancing needs for the rest of FY2008 and FY2009.

Suntec REIT said barring unforeseen circumstances, it expects its performance for the remainder of the year to continue to be strong. It also expects to exceed its forecast DPU of 8.69 cents. - CNA/vm

Award-Winning Architects To Design New Dawson Estate

Source : Channel NewsAsia, 30 July 2008

Two award-winning private architects were officially appointed by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) on Wednesday to put a new spin to the old Dawson Estate in Queenstown.

SCDA Architects Pte Ltd and WOHA Architects Pte Ltd were earlier commissioned to draw up plans for two separate public housing sites at the junction of Margaret Drive and Dawson Road.

The new flats will be launched for sale under the Build-To-Order system in the third quarter of 2009.

The 60-hectare Dawson district, which was first developed in the 1950s, will have new homes nestled among lush greenery.

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SCDA's plan features multiple layers of common spaces such as car parks, shops and facilities, while individual residential units can be combined to create lofts, which are ideal for home offices or larger families.

The 823-unit project will also be eco-friendly.

Chan Soo Khian, design director, SCDA Architects, said: "All the surface runoffs will be collected in retention tanks and these will then be used to irrigate all the landscape. The staircase would be integrated with solar panels."

At a separate site in the same district, architects at WOHA spent over four months on their work. The project will also boast sky gardens and integrated facilities.

It is expected to be home to about 1,000 households, which will have plenty of opportunity to interact.

Richard Hassell, founding director of WOHA Architects, said: "Every apartment feels like it belongs to a smaller community of about 60 or 80 homes. The way we've done it is to make a space... so on the way from the lift to the front door, you always go through this space."

These flats are expected to be ready in 2014 and their price tags will be unveiled next year.

To preserve the heritage of the area, HDB is also calling on the public to contribute items relating to Queenstown. These could be old photographs, postcards or even cinema tickets, which will be incorporated into the design of the new estate.

Subana International Consultants has been chosen to develop a third site in the Dawson Estate. The company will be officially appointed when the plot is cleared in 2011.

The plans will be on display at the HDB Hub from July 31 to August 10. - CNA/so

US Home Prices Continue To Fall; Values Gain In Some Cities

Source : Channel NewsAsia, 30 July 2008

WASHINGTON : The decline in home values in major cities accelerated in May amid a lingering property slump, but prices in some areas showed improvement, a survey showed Tuesday.

A house for sale in Illinois.

The Standard and Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index - which tracks property prices across major metropolitan areas - registered a hefty fall of 15.8 percent in May compared with the same month a year ago, marking a record annual decline.

The benchmark index tracks property prices in 20 major US cities.

Home prices in the 20 large cities declined 0.9 percent on a monthly basis to May.

"The overall real estate market continued to slide in May," said David Blitzer, the head of S&P's index committee.

But the survey also showed that home prices in seven cities, Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis, and Portland, displayed monthly increases in May compared with April.

Property values in the Nevada gambling hub of Las Vegas and in Miami, Florida, continued to fall heavily, however.

The survey showed that property values slumped by 3.6 and 2.9 percent in Miami and Las Vegas respectively in the month to May.

Parts of California, Florida, Nevada and Ohio have been particularly badly hit by the lengthy US housing slump, especially neighbourhoods targeted for speculative construction projects.

"House prices will continue to drop because inventories of unsold homes remain high," said Patrick Newport, an economist at Global Insight.

"Recent progress on reducing inventories has been modest. This is bad news because inventories need to come down considerably for the housing market to equilibrate," Newport said.

Other economists believe the housing market slump is showing some signs of bottoming out.

The US housing market has been in a downturn for over two years following a multi-year boom which saw home sales and prices propelled higher, partly due to a speculative building frenzy in some states. - AFP/de

HSBC Says Global Credit Crisis Not Having Large Impact In Asia

Source : Channel NewsAsia, 30 July 2008

HONG KONG: Global banking giant HSBC has dismissed fears of a global credit crisis having a large impact in Asia. It said that overall, Asian economies remain robust, thanks to strong domestic demand.

The US mortgage crisis has put America on a cautious footing and cut its demand for Asian exports - sparking fears that this will put a drag on the growth of regional economies. However, Hong Kong-based economists from HSBC have dismissed those fears.

Frederic Neumann, senior Asian economist, HSBC, said: "We've seen a lot of news reports and commentaries suggesting that Asian economies are likely to decelerate very sharply into the year end. But I think Asian economies are fairly sound."

The most sound economies appear to be China and India, which can tap on strong domestic demand, which is buffering against the negative effects of a US slowdown.

However, HSBC said Taiwan and Thailand are among the those most vulnerable to weakness ahead because of a rapid slowdown in exports and sluggish domestic demand.

The bank said that those looking to invest should stick to places which are considered more developed markets or those that are relatively less affected by inflation.

Garry Evans, chief equity strategist, Asia-Pacific, HSBC, elaborated: "Singapore, (a) developed market, (is) relatively less volatile. (In) China, we don't see (inflation) as being a particularly big issue; (its) earnings growth is fairly visible. Korea, (an) OECD member, (is) one of the more developed markets in Asia."

Although Asian economies remain sound, HSBC said economic imbalance is something that policymakers need to keep their eye on.

It said they must tackle the issue of inflation to keep growth from suffering in the future. - CNA/ms

Bush Signs Massive Housing Bill

Source : Channel NewsAsia, 30 July 2008

WASHINGTON : US President George W. Bush has signed an elaborate housing rescue plan designed to help thousands of homeowners avert foreclosure and bolster mortgage finance giants, the White House said on Wednesday.

A sign advertising a reduced price is seen in front of a home for sale in Richmond.

Bush signed the most sweeping housing legislation in decades "to improve confidence and stability in markets, and to provide better oversight for (struggling US mortgage lenders) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said in a statement announcing the signing.

"The Federal Housing Administration will begin to implement new policies intended to keep more deserving American families in their homes," Fratto added.

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which legislators from both sides of the aisle have described as vital to stem fallout from a slumping housing sector, provides 300 billion dollars in federal guarantees to help refinance troubled mortgages.

It provides for government credit and equity injections in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two mortgage lenders that underpin much of the housing market, and calls for some 3.9 billion dollars to help local governments buy and rehabilitate foreclosed homes.

Opponents to the bill had argued that it would reward "irresponsible" lenders and consumers and allow the government too big a role in the housing market.

Bush, too, had opposed the bill because of the inclusion of the local government grants, but eventually dropped his opposition.

The bill's supporters stressed that providing a financial lifeline for the government-sponsored Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as more regulatory oversight would contribute to confidence and stability in housing and financial markets.

The aid package comes with the housing sector still weakening from a nearly two-year-old slide and data showing home prices falling further, inventories rising and many buyers waiting on the sidelines. - AFP/de