Snippet from Asiaone, Feb 15, 2011 SINGAPORE – The number of private homes sold in Singapore soared to a 14-month high in January, indicating housing demand remained buoyant and that the government may have to introduce more measures to cool the market. Private home sales in January, including executive condominiums more than tripled to 2,077 [...]
Snippet from XinMSN October 21, 2011 The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) has charged a second person on Thursday for representing himself as a property agent without being registered with the council. 30-year-old Sim Soon Leong, Raymond, was also charged with failing to obtain a written authorisation from a licensed real estate firm before practising. Despite [...]
While such cases are rare, it is important for potential tenants to ask to see proof of ownership of the property. Only write cheques to the owners' names. Never hand cash to the person you are dealing with as there is no paper trail to follow-up on. If possible, only deal with agents who are [...]
Snippet from AsiaOne Wednesday, Sep 28, 2011 SINGAPORE – Tenants in an Orchard Road apartment found themselves locked in on the morning of Sept 26, when they tried to leave for work. A bicycle lock had been secured around the gate, leaving them trapped at home. According to a reader, Ong, who wrote in to citizen journalism site, Stomp, the [...]
Snippet from Yahoo News / Propertyguru :- Friday, Sept 16, 2011 With a slew of new agent regulations in place this year, existing real estate agents stand to lose their licenses if they don't pass the Real Estate Salesperson exam within a year. The new ruling was implemented nine months ago and those who are [...]
Snippet from xinMSN September 1, 2011 One month after its new guidelines on ethical advertising came into effect, The Council for Estate Agents or CEA said it is investigating 20 cases for possible infringement. CEA's Director for Regulatory Control, Mr Lee Say Kee said dummy ads, which advertise fictional properties or properties which do not [...]
With effect from September 1, 2011, all importers and manufacturers who supply registrable household air-conditioners and refrigerators in Singapore must register with the National Environment Agency (NEA). With this requirement, all registrable air-conditioners and refrigerators supplied in Singapore must meet minimum energy efficiency standards that are prescribed in the Environment Protection and Management (Energy Conservation) [...]
The US dollar has been depreciating against most currencies. While it is still the reserve currency in the world, holders of US dollars are seeing their value drop. China is one country which holds a lot of US dollar debt. It hurts them to see their investment in the US dollar going down. Likewise [...]
Quick analysis for Management Councils – the tightening of supply at the mid level will impact the Condominium Manager/Property Manager level. It would be harder to hire and also result in higher wages for the Singaporean staff. While this is good for the staff, the Management Councils have to be prepared to pay more for [...]
This is a week of roller coaster ride, sparked off by the Standard & Poor's downgrade of the US rating from AAA to AA+. For ages, never has a country whose currency is world reserve currency being downgraded. What are the implications for the Singapore property market? Let's look at how the US market reacted [...]