Hong Kong Banks Struggle to Sell Foreclosed Homes and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Hong Kong’s sliding residential market leads today’s collection of real estate headlines, with banks in Asia’s most expensive housing market struggling to find buyers for foreclosed properties. Also making the list is a UOL residential project in Singapore and an Aussie casino operator backed by Hong Kong’s Chow Tai Fook and Far East Consortium marketing a set of Brisbane assets.

Hong Kong Banks Struggle to Sell Foreclosed Homes at 20% Off

Packed inside a small office in Hong Kong’s financial district, about 20 people wait for a property auction to start.

The bidders — old women carrying grocery bags and middle-aged couples wearing t-shirts and sneakers — have come for a rare opportunity: The chance to buy a discounted home in a real estate market long known as one of the world’s most expensive. Read more>>

UOL Completes Buy of Meyer Park Project in Singapore

SGX-listed developer UOL announced on Tuesday that, together with its Singapore Land subsidiary, it has completed the purchase of the Meyer Park condo complex in the city-state’s East Coast area.

The two companies had teamed up in February of this year to sign an agreement with the owners of units in the Meyer Road complex for S$392.18 million (then $295.39 million), with the project potentially yielding up to 250 homes. Read more>> 

Chow Tai Fook-Backed Star Marketing Brisbane Casino Complex

Star Entertainment has kicked off a new sales process for its Treasury Casino and Hotel buildings in Brisbane with hopes of reaping $200 million as the embattled gaming company attempts to stabilise its operations.

The move comes after its second rescue capital raising and, on the property side, Charter Hall in June backing out of a long-term deal to buy the site. Read more>>

DLF to Develop $204M Shopping Mall in Gurugram

Realty major DLF is likely to start construction of its new 2.5 million square feet (232,258 square metres) shopping mall in Gurugram this quarter at a cost of around INR 17 billion ($204 million) to expand business amid surge in demand for quality real estate space from retailers.

At present, DLF has a retail footprint of around 4.2 million square feet comprising nine properties, including malls and shopping centres, mainly across Delhi-NCR. Around 340,000 square feet retail portfolio is under DLF Ltd  and rest under the DLF Cyber City Developers Ltd (DCCDL), a joint venture between DLF and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC. Read more>>

Hong Kong Stocks Suffer Biggest Drop in Three Months

Stocks in Hong Kong suffered their worst day in three months on Tuesday on growing concern about China’s weak housing market and persistently high US interest rates.

The Hang Seng Index ended down 2.7 percent — its biggest drop since early June — after investors returned from a long holiday weekend. The market benchmark is one of the world’s worst performers this year, having fallen more than 12 percent, and now stands at its lowest level since November. Read more>>

LVMH-Backed L Catterton Plans to Boost India Investments

Consumer-focused private equity fund L Catterton, backed by French Luxury brand LVMH, is looking to accelerate investments in India over the next 12-24 months, a top company official said.

The PE firm, which raised a $1.4 billion Asia fund in 2019 to deploy in China, Japan and India, is scouting for opportunities across consumer sub-segments, Anjana Sasidharan, partner and head of India at L Catterton said in an interview. Read more>>

Singapore Expects More Arrests in $2B Money Laundering Case 

Singapore said it was expecting more arrests and seizures as the Asian financial hub investigates one of its biggest cases of suspected money laundering, in which the value of assets seized now stands at S$2.8 billion ($2 billion).

Simultaneous raids in mid-August by authorities of the city state known for its low crime rate led to the arrest of 10 foreigners and the seizure of luxury properties, cars, gold bars, designer handbags and jewellery worth S$1 billion. Read more>>

Japan Pension Giants Managing $600 Billion Sign ESG Pact

Japanese pension funds managing JPY 90 trillion ($600 billion) will join a global initiative for responsible investment, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a speech on Tuesday.

Seven of the nation’s public retirement funds will start preparations to sign the Principles for Responsible Investment, Kishida said. Read more>>

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