CITY Developments executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng believes that the property boom here is far from over, despite the current financial market turmol

CITY Developments executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng believes that the property boom here is far from over, despite the current financial market turmoil.

‘The boom actually just started in 2005, and if you’re thinking of a relapse, I don’t think that is possible,’ he told chief executives yesterday at the Forbes Global CEO Conference.

‘Sub-prime has to some extent affected Singapore … there’s a psychological fear of what will happen.’

But ‘our banks are still lending a lot of money’, Mr Kwek noted. ‘They’re a little bit more cautious, but we have plenty of liquidity.

‘The banking and financial systems here are very well controlled … they are well regulated and the central bank has taken action to pre-empt crises like what you’ve seen in sub-prime.’

The property tycoon, who is also chairman of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, was speaking at a panel discussion on global real estate trends.

He said that, after adjusting for inflation, high-end residential property prices have risen only about 10 per cent in real terms from their lowest level over the past decade, ‘which is not alarming’.

He said: ‘My advice is, look at it realistically - crisis means opportunity. I’m a bottom-fisher, I like to go in when the market is bad.

‘I believe there’s still a lot of upside. The mid-end is still 19 per cent below the peak of ‘96.’

In addition, he said Singapore had introduced a lot of initiatives over the past 10 years to attract foreigners to live and work here, which has fuelled demand for property.

‘You may say it’s very dull, but we are going to have the integrated resorts, Formula One, and a host of other events that will make Singapore an exciting city to live, work and play.’

Other panellists were also optimistic on the prospects for further growth in property development in China, India, and the Middle East.

Vincent Lo, the chairman and chief executive of Hong Kong-based Shui On Group, who was also on the panel, said he was ‘very bullish’ on the property market in China. ‘We have waiting lists for our office space till 2010.’

Kushal Pal Singh, chairman of DLF Group, the largest real estate developer in India, said there remained a ‘huge gap between demand and supply’ of residential property there.

Hayan Merchant, chief executive of Dubai-based Ruwaad Holdings, said the current pace of development in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates more generally was ‘unprecedented’.

The property, hospitality and tourism investment and development company is looking at moving into Asia ‘in the next three to five years’, Mr Merchant told reporters in a separate briefing. He said Ruwaad was looking particularly at Singapore, Malaysia, China and India for expansion opportunities.

Source : Business Times - 12 Sept 2007