Daily Briefing: Help for first-timers buying resale HDBs; Orchard Road's latest landmark

And Singtel acquires ad tech firm for $310m.

On Feb 20, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced in his Budget statement that, with immediate effect, the Central Provident Fund’s (CPF) Housing Grant had been raised to $50,000 for first-timer couples buying fourroom or smaller HDB flats from the resale market. For those who purchase five-room or bigger flats, the grant has been raised to $40,000. The CPF Housing Grant was previously capped at $30,000. Including the Additional CPF Housing Grant, capped at $40,000, and the Proximity Housing Grant, capped at $20,000, first-timer couples can now receive up to $110,000 in subsidies. Read more here.

Interest in luxury homes typically picks up once they are completed as well-heeled buyers can personally inspect the design and quality of the project. For Cairnhill Nine, an integrated development by CapitaLand, it also means aspiring buyers can experience for themselves the project’s proximity to Paragon, a luxury shopping mall in the Orchard Road shopping belt. Only 48 units have remained unsold at Cairnhill Nine since the project was launched a year ago. Following the project’s completion in October, CapitaLand will showcase these units in Singapore and Jakarta starting from Feb 25. Get to know the full story here.

Ad tech company Turn has been acquired by Amobee, the ad tech division of Singapore-based telco Singtel, for $310 million. Turn offers a demand-side platform (DSP), a data management platform, and an analytics platform — automated systems that help advertisers plan, buy, and measure their online ad campaigns. It competes with DSPs such as Google DoubleClick Bid Manager, AppNexus, The Trade Desk, Rocket Fuel, MediaMath, AdForm, and DataXu. Click here to find out more.