Keppel Land Exiting Myanmar Hotel Project and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, Singapore’s Keppel Land sells out of a Myanmar hotel development, and insurance giant Ping An Group says it’s on the hook for about a fourth of the estimated damage bill from the Kimpton Hotel fire in Hong Kong.

Keppel Land to Divest Myanmar Hotel Project for $57M

Keppel Land and its subsidiary Double Peak Holdings are divesting their 100 percent stake in Greenfield Development for $57.4 million in cash. Greenfield Development wholly owns Straits Greenfield, which has the right to build and operate a hotel in Myanmar.

The consideration of US$57.4 million exceeds Greenfield Development’s net asset value of US$43.9 million as at end-February 2023, said Keppel Land’s parent Keppel Corp on Monday. Read more>>

Ping An Liable for 23% of Kimpton Hotel’s $335M in Fire Damage

A unit of China’s Ping An Group has confirmed that it is the insurer providing cover for Hong Kong’s under-construction Kimpton Hotel, which was engulfed by a fire last week.

Replying to an inquiry from the South China Morning Post, Ping An Property & Casualty said it had reinsurance arrangements in place that reduce its exposure to only about a quarter of what is expected to be one of the biggest property-related damage claims the city has ever seen. Read more>>

Tata Realty Boss Says High Costs Making Real Estate Projects Unviable

The development of real estate projects in India is becoming unviable due to high costs of land, capital and construction, along with other economic uncertainties, said Sanjay Dutt, managing director and CEO of Tata Realty and Infrastructure.

Dutt, who also heads Tata Housing, said the government and judiciary should hold accountable all stakeholders that are involved in approval and development of real estate projects to make things easier. Read more>>

China to Target ‘Unregulated’ Expansion in Property Market

China said it will target disorderly expansion in the property sector, as policymakers seek to strike a balance between boosting economic growth and defusing financial risks.

Efforts should be made to prevent “unregulated” expansion in the property market to promote its stable development, Premier Li Keqiang said at the annual session of the National People’s Congress, the Communist Party-controlled parliament. Read more>>

SHKP’s Novo Land Sells Out With More Units to Hit Market

All 352 homes available at Phase 2B of Novo Land in Hong Kong’s Tuen Mun area were sold out after sales launched last Saturday, while the secondary market saw weekly transactions fall.

An additional 171 flats will be put on the market on Wednesday as part of the 180 units revealed in the fourth price list last Saturday, said developer Sun Hung Kai Properties. The latest batch of units was priced between HK$4.2 million and HK$9.3 million ($540,000 and $1.2 million), or at an average price of HK$14,098 per square foot after discounts. Read more>>

Cheaper Land in Hong Kong: What Low-Price Parcel Sales Mean

The recent sale of a parcel of prime commercial land in Mong Kok for 61 percent less than the HK$12 billion ($1.53 billion) some thought it might be worth is likely to mean a more handsome margin for Sun Hung Kai Properties, rather than any profound change to the city’s real estate fundamentals, according to analysts.

SHKP prevailed over two other bidders to secure the 124,184 square foot (11,537 square metre) plot on 1 March, winning the right to develop and lease the land for 50 years for HK$4.73 billion. That price is 35 percent below the HK$7.3 million that property consultancy Colliers estimated as the low end of the land’s value, and 61 percent below the HK$12 billion it cited as the high end of the range. Read more>>

UOL’s Pan Pacific Hotels Opens New Resort at UNESCO Geopark of Langkawi

Pan Pacific Hotels Group, a member of Singapore-listed UOL Group, has launched ParkRoyal Langkawi Resort in Malaysia.

Located along the beaches of Pantai Tengah at the UNESCO Geopark of Langkawi, the 301-room resort joins the group’s growing network of more than 50 hotels, resorts and serviced suites in over 30 key cities across Asia Pacific, North America and Europe by 2024. Read more>>

CLCT, Sasseur Outperform S-REIT Peers Amid China Reopening Optimism

The largest China-focused REITs by market cap have outperformed most of their peers listed on the Singapore Exchange over the last six months amid optimism about China’s reopening.

CapitaLand China Trust and Sasseur REIT — the two largest among the five S-REITs with purely China-based assets — currently rank among the top five performers when compared with the broader pool of S-REITs and listed business trusts, Bloomberg data showed. Read more>>

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