Asia real estate and outbound investment news
China Vanke Co. (3333), the nation’s biggest developer by market value traded on mainland exchanges, said full-year profit rose 21 percent as it sold more small and medium-sized homes that are less affected by government curbs.
Net income climbed to 15.12 billion yuan ($2.5 billion) in the 12 months to Dec. 31 from 12.55 billion yuan a year earlier, the Shenzhen, China-based company said in a statement today.
Beijing has put out a dozen plots of land for sale this month, including one in its central area, as the country’s real estate developers scramble to secure land amid a capital crunch and potential industry consolidation
The Beijing land reserve bureau has listed 12 parcels for public tenders, including five with floor prices totalling 13.4 billion yuan (HK$17 billion).
Dalian Wanda, the property developer headed by China’s richest man, plans to invest up to 3 billion pounds ($5 billion) in regeneration projects in Britain, Britain’s prime minister said on Friday.
Prime Minister David Cameron unveiled the investment after meeting Dalian Wanda’s chairman Wang Jianlin in Davos this week. It comes after Cameron led the largest-ever British mission to China last December that involved about 100 business people.
Hong Kong’s property market continues to experience a shortage of new supply, with the number of completed flats falling to a four-year low last year, but analysts expect supply to pick up in coming years.
Figures from the quarterly report of the Housing Authority show that only 8,300 new private residential units were completed last year – nearly 18 per cent less than 2012. The number also fell far short of the government’s expectation of 13,551 flats for 2013.
A Chinese manufacturing index fell more than estimated in January to a six-month low, a private survey showed.
The preliminary reading of 49.6 for a Purchasing Managers’ Index released Thursday by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics compares with a final figure of 50.5 in December and a 50.3 median estimate of 19 analysts in a Bloomberg News survey. A number above 50 indicates expansion.
Hong Kong’s retailing landscape is changing. With the competition for space in the city’s traditional retail districts–Central, Causeway Bay, Tsimshatsui and Mongkok–driving rents to eye-watering levels, foreign retailers are increasingly shifting their focus to shopping centres in the New Territories. Fast fashion brands such as Uniqlo, Gap, H&M and Zara have been leading the trend but others are following.
In addition to capturing a share of the growing Mainland-shopper market, retailer interest is also being attracted by growing local populations resulting from the completion of new residential developments.
Tokyo is still Asia’s most expensive city for expat postings, but it is being losing ground to smoggy Beijing, according to the results of a survey released recently by global employment solutions provider ECA International.
Tokyo and Beijing, which were globally ranked 10th and 15th, respectively, were followed by Nagasaki, Shanghai and Yokohama to round out the top five most expensive expat postings in Asia.
About 2.8 trillion ($458.3 billion) of the 33 trillion yuan ($5.45 trillion) of assets owned by rich Chinese was transferred overseas in 2011, equivalent to 3 percent of China’s GDP in the same year, according to a blue book published on Wednesday.
“Rich” refers to those who individually possess more than 6 million yuan of investable assets.
Hong Kong is the most popular asset transfer destination for rich Chinese, attracting 22 percent of the 2.8 trillion yuan. The United States came second, attracting 21 percent of the assets. About 16 percent of the assets went to Canada. Switzerland, Singapore and Australia.
Migration for investment in overseas real estate markets has become a top choice for Chinese applicants, according to a report on China’s migration status released on Wednesday.
The Annual Report on Chinese International Migration 2014 shows that a growing number of Chinese investors are rushing to go abroad in order to buy properties and establish permanent residence in places like Europe and North America.
Investment in big ticket real estate deals by private individuals has risen more than 111 percent in the last five years, with Asian investors leading the surge.
A new report by real estate services firm Savills, in partnership with Singapore cosultancy Wealth-X finds that while corporate real estate investments have increased 43 percent since 2008, real estate acquisitiosn in excess of US$10 million by the world’s wealthy rose by 111 percent in the same period.
