Rent for as much as $3,400 a month.

According to Square Foot Research, about three quarter of the estimated 150 projects comprising shoebox units are currently located in the Central Region.

Out of the 50 projects completed since 2012, 38 of them are located in the Central Region whereas the remaining are located outside of the CentralRegion,it addded.

Based on the total rental contracts signed in the past 6 quarters, Square Foot Research also said that the Central Region saw a higher rental take‐up rate compared to Outside of Central Region.

"The rental take‐up rate for new projects with shoebox units in district 9 and 10 is strong.

Vivace saw a 91% take‐up rate based on the number of rental contracts signed versus the estimated number of shoebox units available," said Square Foot Research.

The research firm also said that it is interesting to note that the number of rental contracts signed within a year for RV Suites exceeded the number ofshoebox unitsin the project. This, it said, may be due to rental contracts that areshort‐term in nature (6 months) that have expired or early termination on rental contracts.

Whichever the case may be, Square Foot Research said that the high replacement rate is yet another indication that rental demand for such units is strong. 

Investors are advised to shy away from residential, industrial.

According to Colliers International executive director of Investment Services Tang Wei Leng, the residential sector remains a concern because of high policy risk that thins profit margins.

The industrial sector is also a concern, she added, as there are also some government interventions. She cited for example, new investors are required to obtain the approval of JTC Corporation for any properties sited on land leased from the JTC Corporation. It has also become more challenging, she said, for third-party facility providers, including institutional investors like REITs, to purchase JTC industrial properties. "This is because, effective from 1 January 2013, such buyers are required to put in an upfront land premium for the remaining part of the lease term. All things being equal, this potentially increases the acquisition price for a property and could translate to a lower yield."

Nevertheless, Ms Tang said that opportunities still abound despite market difficulties.

Here's more from Ms Tang:

Singapore continues to attract investors, in particular, those seeking stable and long term returns. Investors are convinced by the strong delivery track record of the Singapore government. The stable currency and AAA ratings are key drivers in addition to the government’s commitment to infrastructure development and visionary town planning. With the recent announcement of plans for a 5th airport terminal, just as the 4th is breaking grounds, signals a strong confidence in the volume of travellers into and/or via the country.

Singapore is a wealthy country, with property values in Singapore being among the highest in the world. We also rank among the highest worldwide in terms of GDP per capita. Singapore, which offers great ground-up development opportunities with minimal or no barriers to entry, is always on the radar of investors from all over the world. Our government has a planned land sale program that is accessible to global investors. Investment returns in Singapore are generally stable and we have seen great windows of opportunities for economical returns.

We are seeing more inbound money from China, India, Indonesia and the region investing in more sizeable properties in Singapore, in particular, hotels. A total of 9 hotels was sold to date for this year, with 3 hotels being sold just last month.

There are limited buying opportunities, as owners of investment-grade properties generally hold these assets for long term investments. Reasons include lack of replacement opportunities and price expectations. Another challenge is the thin spread between yields and financing costs.

The office and hotel sectors are some of the favourites among investors. With rents bottoming, there could be rental upside potential in the office sector. While for the hotel sector, although there is a high volume of hotels changing hands this year, the situation is rare as there is limited opportunity to access this sector. Nonetheless, this is a sector to watch, as demand for hotel rooms is expected to be high – given the government’s drive to target tourist arrivals to 17 million by 2015, as well as increasing tourism receipts to S$30 billion by 2015 – all these supported by the infrastructural plans such as having a fifth airport terminal by 2020.

Apart from the office and hotel sectors, investors should also keep an eye for opportunities in prime high-end residential units as the average prices remain stable. The price gap between average prices for the prime high-end residential units and units outside of the prime locations are narrowing.

No sale this year yet.

In 2Q13, Ho Bee's revenue from property development dipped 97.7% y-y to S$3.3mn. For the six months ended 30 June 2013, revenue decreased 64.8% from S$174.7mn to S$61.4mn.

Lucas Tan of PhillipCapital said that this was due mainly to lower revenue recognition, as the bulk of One Pemimpin was recognized previously.

"Ho Bee did not record any residential sales for its Sentosa residential units and continues to have majority of their unsold inventory concentrated there," he said while noting that with the cooling measures instilled, demand for new units at Sentosa has dwindled.

As of Dec 31, 2012, Only 47% of Turquoise's 91 units were snapped up while only 28% of Seascape's 158 units were sold.

Ho Bee's Pinnacle Collection is not launched yet.

Backed by its stellar financial position, Tan said that it bodes well for Ho Bee to hold out, pending favorable sales timing for its unsold residential units.

"We expect weak local residential sales for the remaining of FY2013," he said. 

But MayBank estimates lower-than expected $80m annual profit.

The Metropolis is on schedule to be completed by Oct 2013. MayBank KimEng analyst Wilson Liew that the commercial property is now already 82% pre-committed.

Management has indicated a plausible S$80mn annual recurrent income when the development is fully leased in 2015.Ho Bee stated an average price of $6-7 psf for office leases and $8-15 psf for retail.

MayBank however only expects net profit contributions of ~SGD50m annually when fully-
leased.

The Metropolis will be an integrated development comprising of 2 office towers which is well supported by amenities such as retail and food & beverage outlets.

The property being marketed by Jones LangLaSalle is strategically located within one-north which is Singapore's icon of the knowledge economy and an emerging decentralized location of choice for corporate occupiers.

The development is directly link to Buona Vista MRT station and future circle line MRT station.

Jones Lang LaSalle notes that the development will yield a net lettable area of over 1 million sf spread over large and efficient floor plates of 25,000 to 30,000sf and will be a distinctive landmark development within one-north upon its completion. 

Only 2 surpassed historical high prices.

The luxury segment of the property sector remained hardly hit by recent cooling measures as shown by moderation of prices. The month of July is lucky to have 3 properties above $10m.

The following list obtained from Squarefoot Research show 10 of the most expensive non-landed properties traded last month.

Topping the list is a $12 million condo at Napier Road. 

5 of them yield above 5%.

Rental yields remain at one of the lowest levels in a decade but Square Foot Research presents a handful of properties that yield above 5%. As expected, topping the list are mostly 99-year leasehold and are located in the mass market districts, where capital values are lower.

The rankings are vased on transactions in the last 6 months and exclude projects with fewer than 3 transactions.

Check them out.

Topping the list is a $407 million deal.

Private investment sales took a dip as total transactions fell from 13 deals in 2H 2012 to 11 transactions in 1H 2013, says Knight Frank.

It is is one of the fewest residential investment transactions since 2010.

1H 2013 total transaction value contracted by 19.6 per cent over the same period amounting to $1.2 billion in 1H 2013.

Topping the list is a $446 million deal.

Knight Frank reports that commercial and hotel investment sales in 1H 2013 comprised smaller bite-sized deals which totalled about $3.7 billion. This is substantially smaller than $7.4 billion achieved in the latter half of 2012, where we saw large investment transactions exceeding $1 billion, such as the $2.1 billion investment from the flotation of Far East Hospitality Trust and the $1.1 billion investment deal from the increased NTUC Income’s stake in Parkway Parade.

Despite the lower transaction volume in 1H 2013, Knight Frank notes that investment interest in private commercial and hotel sector remains active. "Continuous sourcing for suitable investment developments are observed in the market, though compressed yields and elevated asking prices for available commercial developments remained key concerns for buyers."

Check out the largest deals exceeding $100million.

Rent a unit for as low as $2.20 psf montly.

Here's the other extreme of the 10 costliest non-landed residential buildings to rent in 1Q that Singapore Business Review has been running over the last two weeks.

The list is based on the data obtained from the Urban Redevelopment Authority detailing monthly rental costs of non-landed residential buildings with at least 10 rental contracts signed in the first three months of 2013.

Monthly rentals of the condos that made it to the list range from $2.20 psf to $2.46 psf.Othere rent-related information were obtained from Squarefoot Research.

Most of them are in the suburbs.

Singapore is welcoming more mall projects in the next four years to cater for foreign retailers who are increasingly making their foray here.

Savills Research director Alan Cheong said that a large pipeline of supply looms in the suburbs, but well-located and -positioned malls in the heartlands may still buck the trend to command premiun rents.

Jem, which kickstarted mall openings this year will be followed by two more projects - Orchard Gateway and Westgate.

Check out the other developments. 

Monthly rent costs over $7 psf.

Singapore Business Review compiled the rentals of non-landed residential buildings with at least 10 rental contracts signed in the first three months of 2013.

Scotts Square, a freehold apartment development located at 6-8 Scotts Road topped the list with $8.23 psf pm average rent.

It is closely followed by The Clift, an apartment located in the CBD and just 5 minutes away from Tanjong Pagar MRT station. Monthy rents cost $8.15 psf. 

3 of them will soon replace current title holders.

Singapore Business Review obtained an exclusive data of Singapore’s 10 tallest buildings currently being built from building-related information provider, Emporis.

Arcadia Development’s SkySuites at Anson topped the list with approximate height of 250 meters and comprising 71 floors.

It is followed by Far East Organization’s Altez with the same height but with only 62 floors.

A billion dollar, 242 meters tall office building CapitaGreen ranked third.

By looking at Emporis’ list of today’s Singapore’s tallest building , the three buildings mentioned above will soon occupy the fifth, sixth and 9th spot once completed 1-2 years from now.

Suntec City Towers2, Samsung Hub set record prices.

According to Savills, the office leasing market was active in Q1/2013. In the CBD, the market continued to be dominated by smaller deals of 10,000 sq ft and less, arising mainly from existing tenants’ expansions or flight-to- quality.

Here’s a rundown of major office transactions from Savills in 1Q 2013:

1. The remaining space in newly-completed prime office buildings, such as
Asia Square Tower 1 and Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) Tower 3 has been promptly filled after the subdivision of entire floors. Tenants include private equity firms and China-based resources and trading companies.

2. Shell and Procter & Gamble leased 120,000 sq and 200,000 sq ft respectively in The Metropolis at one-north, bringing the pre-commitment level for the project to 60% half a year ahead of its completion.

3. Caveats showed that the whole 20/F and a unit on the 15/F of Suntec City Tower 2 were sold at S$2,750 per sq ft of strata area. This is the third highest unit price for Suntec City Towers since 2011.

4. A unit on the 13/F of Samsung Hub was transacted at S$3,150 per sq ft in March, setting another new high.
 

It's the old AIA headquarter.

Savills Singapore has been appointed to market 1A Keong Saik Road, a contiguous row of three storey 1920’s conservation shop houses with a total site area of 13,441 sf and gross floor area of 34,230sf.

The property is owned by AIA Singapore and up to late last year, the property housed part of AIA Singapore’s agency operations. The agency operations have since moved into AIA’s other owned properties within Singapore.Strategically located at the Keong Sail – Neil Road – Duxton junction, in an exciting district lined with colorful heritage shop houses, 1A Keong Said Road is just a stone’s throw away from Chinatown, Clarke Quay, Harbourfront and the Outram MRT station, and is a highly popular lifestyle destination for Michelin Star and celebrity chefs restaurants .

Surrounded by fancy boutique hotels, trendy designer bars and stylishly chic cafes, this property, according to Savills, is the 'missing jigsaw puzzle piece' that will firmly establish Tanjong Pagar as the latest and trendiest lifestyle destination.

Here's more from Savills:

As Singapore continues to evolve as a cosmopolitan city where heritage meets urban chic, Tanjong Pagar is fast transforming into a vibrant and popular destination for creative office spaces, swanky boutique hotels and celebrity chefs. In addition to the many new residential developments such as the Pinnacle@ Duxton, an integrated development Tanjong Pagar site, and Eon at Shenton, the quaint Tanjong Pagar is starting to stir, fast overtaking their glitzy neighbors like Club Street and Ann Siang Hill to become the precinct that never sleeps.

Tanjong Pagar is a well manicured district of historic shophouses juxtaposed with modern edifices. With the nearby docklands slated for relocation in 2026, to be replaced by low rise, sea fronting, residential developments, the area will begin to experience a sea of change expected to elevate both investment values and business activity. As more professionals strive to “work hard, play harder’, Tanjong Pagar is well positioned and aligned with the lifestyle trend towards living, working and playing in the city.

Senior Director of Lifestyle and Retail Savills Singapore, Sulian Tan-Wijaya says that Tanjong Pagar has truly evolved and transformed into a hip, colorful and exciting precinct where the rapid growth of office and residential developments have been matched by the proliferation of boutique hotels, Michelin Star and celebrity chef restaurants; trendy bars and cafes. “The main attraction for Tanjong Pagar is its quaint conservation shophouses juxtaposed with modern skyscrapers. It is this meld of contrasts that draws the crowd in-a playground that serves their needs day and night, whether at work, play or even at home” she said.

Underlying pass gross rents is $0.77 higher.

According to CIMB, Alexandra Technopark is currently 98.4% occupied with major tenants HP, Microsoft, Nokia, Sybase, Great Eastern and Dyson.

Some of its new leases  include St. Jude Medical, Servicom Medical and D &M Electronics.

Frasers Commercial Trust's Alexandra Technopark masterlease is expiring on Aug 14 where the underlying passing gross rent of S$3.27psf is higher than the estimated gross rent of S$2.50 psf paid under the master lease.

Committed occupancy rate as at 1Q2013 is 93.2%.

That's a meager growth from 4Q2012's 93% occupancy rate.

According to CIMB's analyst Tan Siew Ling, 20% of the 171,000 square feet of space targeted for upgrading of CapitaCommercial Trust's Six Battery Road in 2013 was completed in 1Q.

86% of the space targeted for upgrading meanwhile is currently committed, including existing leases.

[email protected]

All 93 retail units snapped up in one day.

According to Colliers International, towards the end of March, all 93 retail units in Pavilion Square, a mixed development in Geylang Road, were snapped up in one day, with prices ranging from S$2,000 per sq ft to a whopping S$10,879 per sq ft.

Colliers notes that the top price that was achieved for a 118-sq-ft unit on the ground floor is a record for a retail unit outside the city and the Orchard Road shopping belt.

Pavilion Square is a freehold development expected to receive TOP in two years.