TODAY'S HEADLINE

SALE OF PRIVATE HOMES JUMPS 42% IN JULY  
CCR sees steepest  ' 79%  ' rise in buying activity, with 253 units sold last month.
Demand for private residential homes, excluding executive condominiums (ECs), rebounded in July, with 1,943 units snapped up last month, 42 per cent more than the 1,371 units sold in June.

Even as mass'market sales continued to monopolise the market, the Core Central Region (CCR)  '  which includes Districts 9, 10 and 11, Downtown Core (including Marina Bay) and Sentosa  '  saw the steepest rise in buying activity, with 253 units sold in July, an increase of 79 per cent month on month.

Sales in the Outside Central Region (OCR), where mass'market projects are located, also continued to drive primary'market sales, accounting for 77.7 per cent, or 1,509 of the 1,943 private homes (excluding ECs) sold last month. Two of July's top'selling projects, Parc Centros in Punggol and Parc Olympia at Upper Changi, sold 492 units at a median price of $924 psf and 204 units at $874 psf, respectively.

"In July, about two'third of the private housing units sold in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) were in the price range of $1,001 to $1,500 psf. Thus, the overlapping of prices of private homes in the OCR and RCR could make the housing units in the RCR more appealing to ome buyers."

Looking ahead, primary market activity is expected to slow down in ugust, due mainly to the seventh lunar month, noted Chia Siew huin, director of research and advisory, Colliers International. Developers are expected to stagger new supply in order to sustain ome'buying momentum, concentrating on moving units from reviously launched projects. Sales volume is expected to ease to bout 1,300'1,600 units. Meanwhile, positive performance in the CR may embolden some developers to step up on moving more nits in the region," she added.


NEWS BUZZ

SembCorp Marine (S$5.13) 
Wins US$135m deal to convert rig
SembCorp Marine has clinched a US$135mil (S$168.2mil) contract to turn an out'of'work rig into a deepwater driller for Diamond O'shore. It will raise the group's year'to'date new orders to $8.2bil and its net order book to US$11.7bil (S$14.6bil). The rig is due for delivery in the second quarter of 2014. The contract is not expected to have any material impact on the consolidated NTA and EPS of Sembcorp Marine for the current 'nancial year.

Wilmar International (S$3.15) 
Open to selling Goodman Fielder stake 'at a good price'  
Wilmar International said it is open to selling its stake in Goodman Fielder "at a good price' a''er the Australian breadmaker rejected the o'er on grounds that the bid price was below expectations.

Far East Hospitality
Top end pricing for IPO
Far East Hospitality Trust, second'largest o'ering this year, is set to raise some S$656mil in an IPO a''er pricing it at the top end of an indicative range. The trust plans to sell stapled securities at S$0.93 each, representing the top of an indicated S$0.86'0.93. Stapled securities are two di'erent types of securities sold together to investors as one. Based on the o'er price, Far East expects its distribution yield this year to be 6%, according to its prospectus. DBS, Goldman Sachs and HSBC are the joint 'nancial advisers, global coordinators and issue managers for the listing.

Cordlife Group (S$0.485)
Buy 10% of China Cord
Cordlife Group has entered into a share purchase agreement to buy a 10% stake in China Cord Blood Corporation for US$20.8mil. The US$20.8mil acquisition price will be largely o'set by the US$16.8mil disposal consideration. The balance will be funded from IPO proceeds.
Source: The Business Times

Source: AmFraser