Maybank Kim Eng expects a busy month ahead for the local property market. The brokerage cum research house is predicting strong bids for the tender for a prime commercial site on Beach Road which will close this Thurs as prime commercial land remains in short supply. That would be an expression of developers’ confidence in the sector’s outlook, providing a positive push for office property stocks. Developers of the Beach Road project has committed to a minimum price of $1.138 billion or $1,197 psf ppr. Consultants are calling for a top bid of $1,262 – $1,400 psf. “With a potential rebound in Singapore’s office market, we see rents reaching $11 psf by the time the project is completed in 2022,” says analyst Derrick Heng in his Fri report. In addition, another nine en bloc deals will close by Oct 16. Other than the 7,500 units from deals concluded year to date, en bloc deals in the market today could offer another 6,000 units to developers’ inventories. While developers are spoilt for choice in the en bloc market, we believe listed players will be more cautious in bidding for larger sites due to potential penalties under QC rules.... Continue Reading