Singapore Home Prices Ease For Third Straight Quarter

Sivakumar Sathiamoorthy

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ingapore home prices dipped for a third straight quarter in the April-to-June period, official data showed on Tuesday, as property cooling measures continued to bite.

Singapore Housing

Prices of private residential property dipped 1.1 percent on quarter, according to figures from the Urban Redevelopment Authority. That follows a 1.3 percent drop in the first quarter of the year.

In the core central region, prices fell 1.5 percent after falling 1.1 percent in the previous quarter, marking the fifth consecutive quarter-on-quarter decline.

Singapore property prices have surged over 60 percent since 2009, propelled by rock-bottom global interest rates and quantitative easing in developed economies, even as Singapore's government has enacted a series of cooling measures to prevent a bubble from forming.

Driver Mows Down Construction Worker

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olice are hunting for a rogue motorist after a teenage construction worker was left with a broken leg when a man ran him over after refusing to use a diversion around roadworks.

The victim was hit in Knaresborough earlier this week.

The road was closed for repairs but the driver of the car was allowed through when he told the work crew he was picking up a child.

When he tried to make the return trip he was told that he couldn’t drive through the site by one of the construction workers.

Lagos Releases N2bn To HOMS Contractors To Increase Housing Stock

Joshua Bassey & Odinaka Mbonu

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overnor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State says an additional sum of N2 billion has been released to contractors handling various housing projects under the Lagos State Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme (Lagos-HOMS) to increase the housing stock in what aims at bridging the huge housing deficit in the commercial city.

This comes as 92 first time home owners emerged on Wednesday during the fourth draw of the housing scheme, bringing the total number of winners since the draw began in February this year to 235 residents. This is however a far cry from the 800 expected to have won in the last four months. Two hundred housing units comprising one, two and three bedroom flats located in different parts of the state are put up for sale under the scheme monthly.

Apart from monies realised from the sale of the houses, the state government sets aside N500 million monthly for the continued financing of the housing scheme. The prices of the houses range between N4 million  (for one-bedroom flat) and N32 million (for three bedroom flat) depending on location.

Fashola, speaking at the fourth draw which held yesterday at the Lagos Television Corporation premises, Ikeja, said he has released additional N2bn to contractors handling the construction of the housing scheme across the state, reiterating his administration’s commitment to providing affordable homes for residents.

FG To Build Longest Gas Pipeline From Calabar To Kano

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he Federal Government is planning to construct the longest pipeline in the country from Calabar via Ajaokuta to Kano State. This is as it said that gas flaring has dropped to 11 percent- gas flaring level stood at about 25 percent two years ago.

This is part of efforts at ensuring steady supply of gas to meet the growing market demand for the product.

Diezani Alison-Madueke, minister of petroleum resources, disclosed these while delivering a paper titled, ‘Encouraging Investment in Gas Production, Supply and Consumption’, at a 3-day national conference on gas resources organised by the Senate Committee on Gas Resources in Abuja.

“By the end of the year, we will be commencing, via public private partnership (PPP) scheme, the nation’s longest pipeline from Calabar via Ajaokuta to Kano State,” Alison-Madueke said.

Deloitte Reveals $222bn Worth Of African Infrastructure Projects In New Report

Patrick Atuanya

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lightly over $222 billion is being invested in 322 African infrastructure projects that meet the criteria of project value above $50 million, according to a new African construction trends report by tax, financial advisory and consulting firm, Deloitte.

This level of investment is substantial, and holds a high expectation from stakeholders, according to Deloitte.

The top sectors in African infrastructure development (rated by investment and value) are energy and power, transport, mining, real estate, water, and oil and gas.

Of the total number of large projects under construction as of June 1, 2013, 36 percent fall into energy and power, and 25 percent in transport. Infrastructure development is highest in Southern and East Africa, followed by West Africa, according to the report.

In terms of the number of projects underway, Southern Africa leads with 38 percent of projects, followed by East Africa with 29 percent and West Africa with 21 percent. North and Central Africa lag at 7 percent and 5 percent, respectively.