Warnings sounded over Olmypic rentals
One London real estate agent has issued a warning to property owners who are expecting to reap the benefits of increased rental returns during this year’s Olympic Games, which run from July 27 until August 12.Lucy Morton, Senior Partner and Head of Lettings at prime central London estate...
Continue Reading • 24 Jun 2012
Singaporeans top buyers in Oxford
Prime property in the English city of Oxford has been attracting increasing interest from international buyers to the extent where now four in ten buyers are from outside the United Kingdom – and Singaporean buyers are leading the way.Property consultancy Knight Frank's Oxford office has...
Continue Reading • 24 Jun 2012
Fewer agents in Singapore
Singapore’s Council for Estate Agents (CEA) has revealed data which shows an above-10 percent drop in the number of registered real estate agents and salespersons in the country.As at 1 January 2012, the CEA had licensed 1,487 estate agents and registered 30,577 salespersons. Out of the...
Continue Reading • 24 Jun 2012
Singapore estate agent jailed
A 45-year-old man became the first person found guilty of pretending to be a real estate agent, without being registered with the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA).Tan Cher Peng was sentenced to four months in jail and a fine of S$32,000 for five charges of violating the Estate Agents Act, as...
Continue Reading • 24 Jun 2012
One if five buyers is foreign in Singapore
Bank of America (BofA) Merill Lynch, in its recent report, said that 20 percent of the total number of private home transactions recorded last year in Singapore were accounted for by foreign buyers, while PRs and Singaporeans made up a respective 13 percent and 67 percent share.“This is a...
Continue Reading • 24 Jun 2012
Prime London hits new heights
Prices of luxury homes in central London soared for a 14th consecutive month in December, as foreign buyers sought safer investments and jostled for relatively fewer properties for sale, according to Knight Frank LLP.The London-based broker revealed that values of apartments and houses costing an...
Continue Reading • 24 Jun 2012
UK mortgage approvals rise in November
The number of new mortgage approvals in the UK surged to its highest level in November, but overall lending remained weak, according to data released by the Bank of England.It indicated that 52,854 new home loans were approved in November, up from 52,786 approvals in the previous month....
Continue Reading • 24 Jun 2012
Why buy an island, here's an Atoll
If you have the money and want your own private island you’re spoiled for choice, but it’s rare that an entire private atoll is made available to private property buyers and investors.A complete island atoll in French Polynesia, west of the Tuamotu group in the Pacific Ocean, has just...
Continue Reading • 24 Jun 2012
Harsh winter for Beijing home sales
Sales of new and existing homes in Beijing plummeted 18.4 percent and 38.2 percent respectively last year, due to the government's efforts to cool the property market.According to the city's housing regulator, new home sales in Beijing slumped to 90,605 units from a year ago. In terms of sq ft,...
Continue Reading • 23 Jun 2012
HK govt urged to restrict foreign buyers
By Romesh NavaratnarajahThe Hong Kong government should consider studying measures to restrict foreign home buyers, noted Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, Director of the Hong Kong Housing Authority. “According to the changing structure of the local property market, the government should...
Continue Reading • 23 Jun 2012
Interest in Indonesian holiday homes rockets
By Andrew BattEXCLUSIVE: Indonesian villas and apartments are seeing a huge increase in interest from British holidaymakers, according to a new report from the U.K.’s leading holiday home rentals website.According to the Holiday Lettings Index published by holidaylettings.co.uk, the country...
Continue Reading • 23 Jun 2012
Amy Winehouse home for sale
By Andrew BattFixed-fee U.K. real estate agency House Network is marketing Amy Winehouse’s former home (pictured) in Camden Square, London, with an asking price of £2,699,950.It was hoped that the 2,500 sq ft semi-detached townhouse, which was besieged by thousands of fans after the...
Continue Reading • 23 Jun 2012
Foreign buying in Vietnam set to rise
By Andrew BattVietnam has always been an attractive destination for many property buyers and investors from around the world, especially from Japan, India and Thailand. In recent years, an increasing number of foreigners have also been looking to settle in the country.According to data from the...
Continue Reading • 23 Jun 2012
Abramovich mansion on the market
Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich has put his Lowndes Square uber-project (pictured) up for sale for £70 million, despite it needing an estimated additional £15 million to finish it off.He began the project in 1998 by buying one of nine maisonettes in a Lowndes Square...
Continue Reading • 23 Jun 2012
Real estate blamed for Spanish woes
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has blamed the rising price of Spanish real estate as a key reason behind the country’s current financial troubles.She highlighted: "… the Spanish property bubble of the last ten years …" as a trigger, rather than macroeconomic factors...
Continue Reading • 23 Jun 2012
Treasure Island up for grabs
By Andrew Batt For the price of a beachfront property in Phuket you could be the new owner of Isla de Coco, a 24.8 acre private island in the Pacific Ocean.The storybook island, part of the country of Panama, is surrounded by tropical waters and boasts fine sandy beaches, dense vegetation, rocks,...
Continue Reading • 21 Jun 2012