Top Cities

Although they are perennially seen as the top US cities by foreign investors, this year, New York City and Washington, DC, were named foreign investors’ top global cities. New York City leaped ahead by a substantial margin to be named the top global city, followed by Washington, DC, and London in a tie for second place. Last year, New

York was ranked second globally and Washington was ranked fourth. Paris fell from second to fourth rank. For the first time ever, five of the top 10 cities were in Asian markets, with Singapore showing a particularly strong improvement of 19 points. Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo ranked fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.

Among US cities, New York maintained its number one position, followed by Washington, DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Former “hot spot,” San Diego, which was the fifth-ranked city in 2005, continued its slide down the list into fifteenth place, while former “hot-spot-turned-troubled-spot,” Las Vegas, climbed from sixteenth place in the 2006 survey, to eighth place this year. more... 

Source: www.bostonsf.com
Link: http://www.starproject.com.sg/singapore-real-estate.htm

If you believe the headlines, now does not seem the most obvious time to be investing in property: the market in the UK, as in much of the rest of the world, is slowing, if not actually falling yields almost everywhere are under pressure and the sub-prime crisis has put an end to the days of super-cheap borrowing.

Try telling that to Eric Potts. Since he picked up his first buy-to-let in London’s Docklands in 2002, Potts, 45, has amassed a portfolio of 41 properties, initially in Britain and then abroad, valued at well over £8m — and he’s considering adding a 42nd, a church near his home in Chichester, West Sussex.

“I am still buying, but I am a bit more selective,” says Potts, who has funded most of his purchases — ranging from Latvia to Turkey, Brazil, northern Cyprus and Bulgaria, from the sale of Jobsite.co.uk, a website he helped to set up in 1995 with members of his family. “There is always money in property,” he says. “You just have to feel in your stomach that it’s a good deal.

“My fiancée keeps a spreadsheet showing how many properties I have and what their status is. It’s very reassuring every couple of weeks to take a look at it. It makes you feel good and you sleep well.”

Potts’s portfolio — bought largely through Spanish-based Obelisk International — is considerably larger than that of the average property investor. But his journey from Britain and then on to the emerging markets of central and eastern Europe and beyond is a familiar one.

Since the introduction of specialist buy-to-let mortgages by British lenders in the mid-1990s, hundreds of thousands of investors have turned to bricks and mortar as an apparently safe and easily understandable alternative to pensions or other financial investments.

According to the Association of Rental Letting Agents, the buy-to-let market in the UK is now worth at least £150 billion. Investors have also become far more adventurous as the market in much of the UK slowed in 2003 and 2004, many looked abroad in search of the capital gains and yields no longer achievable at home.

Yet even on the most optimistic predictions, property prices in Britain will struggle to end this year much above current levels — most forecasters are looking for a rise of 2%-3%, which would mean a decline in inflation- adjusted terms. Fionnuala Earley, chief economist of Nationwide, Britain’s largest mortgage lender, believes prices will not be rising at all by this time next year.

Nor is the picture much better overseas, with a distinct slowing in France, severe problems of oversupply on the Costas and other areas of Spain popular with British buyers and some price falls in parts of the former communist world.

So is it still possible to make a profit from property and, if so, where? According to Liam Bailey, head of research at estate agents Knight Frank, it is all about doing your homework. “It’s very hard to find easy money in the market in the UK or, increasingly, in Europe these days,” he says. “You’ve got to search areas that will outperform the average, since the average won’t be good enough for most investors. more...

Is Singapore becoming price uncompetitive for foreign business? Rocketing office and housing rental prices over the last 12 months are raising this question.

With property costs now among the highest in East Asia after Tokyo and Hong Kong, there is more and more talk as to what impact they must now make on decisions by a foreign company to maintain or establish in the island city state. Various surveys of the foreign corporate sector and expatriate professionals by consulting companies underline the extent of Singapores rising property and living costs. International human resource consultant, Mercer, found in its annual cost-of-living survey for expatriates earlier this year that Singapore had risen to become the 14th most expensive city of 50 cities around the world, from 17th place the year before, and the most expensive in Asia after Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

New York, Sydney, Beijing and Shanghai were all below Singapore. And since the Mercer survey, announced in March, living costs have continued to rise in Singapore. Yet these cost-of-living headlines can still skew a true  assessment of Singapore´s international economic competitiveness.

Income taxes are very low - 20 per cent in the top bracket - and there was a further cut in this year´s February budget in the corporate rate to 18 per cent. Singapore continues to be advantaged by efficient and low-cost infrastructure services, a well-educated workforce, English as the common language in business and government, and legal and regulatory certainty and transparency for commerce.

Setting up a foreign-invested company, including a fully-foreign-owned company, even if the sponsors are only small-scale businesses, is a very straightforward and rapid process, unlike almost anywhere else in Asia. These factors will continue to offset cost-ofliving rises for top-end foreign business - that is, those in the international banking, legal and business services, and high value R& D heavy manufacturing, such as biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, precision engineering and the sophisticated end of electronics and information technology.

When you purchase a company's stock certificates, you're looking for appreciation in the stock value, and perhaps dividend income if it is paid by the company. With bonds, you're looking for income yield on the interest rate paid by the bonds. With a real estate investment property, there are more ways in which to realize a superior return on your investment. Learn the ways in which your real estate investment can increase in value, as well as provide good cash flow.

1. Cash Flow from Rental Income

As with a stock that pays dividends, a properly selected and managed rental property will provide a steady stream of income in the form of rental payments. Historically, this percentage of return has exceeded that of dividend yields on average.

The real estate investor has a bit more control over the risks to that cash flow also. Though there are downturns in real estate prices and homes sold in some years and areas, generally those renting property in which to live will continue to rent and without a corresponding decrease in rent amounts.

2. Increases in Value Due to Appreciation

Historically, real estate has shown to be an excellent source profit through the increase in investment property value over time. Of course, one cannot predict that this trend will always be true, and it varies significantly by area.

3. Improving Your Investment Property - More Value at Sale

While it's providing rental income cash flow, your property can also be improved in order to garner a better price and more profit when you do choose to liquidate it as an investment.

Upgrades to the appearance and functionality of a real estate investment property can significantly increase value. As trends and styles change, keeping the property interesting to renters will at the very least help you to retain value.

4. Inflation is Your Friend When it Comes to Rent

Though your fixed mortgage will remain constant over time, inflation that drives up home construction costs will also drive up rents. Population growth creates housing demand, again driving up rent prices if supply cannot keep pace.

5. Paying Off Your Mortgage

As you pay down your mortgage, the increase in equity can be used for other purposes and investments. Though it's frequently accessed by selling the property, a real estate investor can also take out equity loans if the terms are right and use those funds for more investing or other purposes.

6. You Could Just Find that "Steal of a Deal"

This is the last item, though it's one of the first ones many investors think about. There are opportunities to buy below market, but the other advantages above will probably be what the average investor experiences most of the time.

Should you be fortunate enough and have the experience to locate a value-priced property, this is an immediate way to increase your net worth and the value of your investment portfolio.

Source: About.com

SINGAPORE: Midrange to low-end home prices in Singapore could rise as much as 50 percent by 2012 after lagging behind gains in luxury apartments, said Kwek Leng Beng, chairman of City Developments, the country's second-largest developer.

Prices rose 17 percent last year for homes in the city-state's prime areas, including those close to the Orchard Road shopping belt and on the resort island of Sentosa, more than four times as fast as suburban residences, government data shows.

Singaporean home prices have recovered from a slump that hit the city-state in 1996, when the government imposed taxes to curb speculators who sold properties within three years. The city's longest economic expansion in more than a decade, which spurred gains in the luxury homes, could lift prices for cheaper apartments as record job creation in industries like financial services and construction pushes demand higher.

"In the mid-end, we are still some 6 to 7 percent below the peak of 1996, before the crash, so it still represents a good buy," Kwek said in an interview late Tuesday. The luxury home market "has gone up in a straight line, and therefore the high-end will continue, but gradually."

Singapore, ranked by Capgemini and Merrill Lynch as the country with the fastest-growing number of millionaires, is creating jobs to meet demand for private banking services. The government also revised estimates this month for construction contracts to reach 22 billion Singapore dollars, or $14 billion, in 2007, from an earlier forecast of 19 billion dollars. more...

SINGAPORE (Thomson Financial) - The exposure of Singapore financial institutions to the troubled US subprime mortgage market is small and problems from it are contained, Minister of State for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran told Parliament Monday.

Iswaran said it is too early to assess the full impact of the subprime crisis but he said Singapore will only be affected if economic growth in the US and Europe slows as a result of the housing and credit market troubles.

'If growth slows in these major economies (US and Europe), Singapore will be affected. Strong growth in the region and the diversity of our export markets will provide us some buffer, but we are not immune to a slowdown in major industrial economies,' he said.