With new launches expected next year in prime areas, the potential creation of vaccinated travel lanes with countries such as China and Indonesia will drive home sales and prices in Singapore. Photo: AFP
With new launches expected next year in prime areas, the potential creation of vaccinated travel lanes with countries such as China and Indonesia will drive home sales and prices in Singapore. Photo: AFP
With new launches expected next year in prime areas, the potential creation of vaccinated travel lanes with countries such as China and Indonesia will drive home sales and prices in Singapore. Photo: AFP
With new launches expected next year in prime areas, the potential creation of vaccinated travel lanes with countries such as China and Indonesia will drive home sales and prices in Singapore. Photo:

Business

Property

Singapore home prices climb in third quarter despite virus restrictions

Sales have declined for two straight months as Covid-19 curbs kept buyers away and deterred developers from launching new projects

Bloomberg

October 23, 2021

  • English
  • Arabic

Singapore home prices rose in the third quarter, showing resilience despite persistent coronavirus restrictions that have disrupted the market.

Private property values climbed 1.1 per cent from the previous quarter, according to Urban Redevelopment Authority data on Friday. That’s higher than the flash estimate of 0.9 per cent and the second quarter’s 0.8 per cent growth.

While price gains have slowed from 3.3 per cent in the first quarter, they reflect the property market’s resilience despite Singapore’s start-stop measures to counter Covid-19 infections.

Like many other countries, the city-state has seen strong demand for homes during the health crisis, with buying from ultra-rich foreigners fuelling the trend.

Market sentiment may improve further as the global economy is expected to do better next year
Christine Sun,
senior vice president, research and analytics, OrangeTee & Tie

“The property market will be ending the year on a higher note,” said Christine Sun, senior vice president of research and analytics at OrangeTee & Tie in Singapore. “Market sentiment may improve further as the global economy is expected to do better next year.”

Singapore is trying to live with the virus, but it’s reopening the country cautiously amid a surge in cases, with the daily tally surging past the 3,000 mark. It imposed a fresh round of curbs that were to end this month, but with infections showing no signs of abating, the government extended those restrictions until the end of November.

While home prices have grown, sales have declined for two straight months as the virus measures steered away buyers and deterred developers from launching new residential projects.

Prices for private homes for the full year may grow between 6 per cent and 8 per cent, said Nicholas Mak, the Singapore-based head of research and consultancy at APAC Realty unit ERA. That’s well above last year’s 2.2 per cent growth.

Buyers upgrading from public flats to private units remain a key source of demand, Mr Mak said. That’s because they’ll be looking for new homes as they cash in on the rising prices for public apartments, some of which have fetched at least S$1 million ($742,900).

With new launches expected next year in prime areas, the potential creation of vaccinated travel lanes with countries such as China and Indonesia, where wealthy buyers have long been attracted to the city-state’s luxury properties, will drive home sales and prices, he said.

FIXTURES

Fixtures for Round 15 (all times UAE)

Friday
Inter Milan v AS Roma (11.45pm)
Saturday
Atalanta v Verona (6pm)
Udinese v Napoli (9pm)
Lazio v Juventus (11.45pm)
Sunday
Lecce v Genoa (3.30pm)
Sassuolo v Cagliari (6pm)
SPAL v Brescia (6pm)
Torino v Fiorentina (6pm)
Sampdoria v Parma (9pm)
Bologna v AC Milan (11.45pm)

Gender pay parity on track in the UAE

The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.

"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."

Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.

"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.

As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general. 

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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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From Zero

Artist: Linkin Park

Label: Warner Records

Number of tracks: 11

Rating: 4/5

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Name: Peter Dicce

Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics

Favourite sport: soccer

Favourite team: Bayern Munich

Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer

Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates 

 

Killing of Qassem Suleimani
While you're here
MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid

INFO

What: DP World Tour Championship
When: November 21-24
Where: Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae.

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

more from Janine di Giovanni
Match info:

Burnley 0

Manchester United 2
Lukaku (22', 44')

Red card: Marcus Rashford (Man United)

Man of the match: Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United)

PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES

Tuesday (UAE kick-off times)

Leicester City v Brighton (9pm)

Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United (11.15pm)

Wednesday

Manchester United v Sheffield United (9pm)

Newcastle United v Aston Villa (9pm)

Norwich City v Everton (9pm)

Wolves v Bournemouth (9pm)

Liverpool v Crystal Palace (11.15pm)

Thursday

Burnley v Watford (9pm)

Southampton v Arsenal (9pm)

Chelsea v Manchester City (11.15pm)

Normal People

Sally Rooney, Faber & Faber
 

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Updated: October 23, 2021, 4:00 AM
Property