$72M Penthouse Seen Testing Singapore Luxury Market and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Leading today’s real estate headlines in the region is a pricey Singaporean penthouse that comes with its own private pool, as the Lion City tests its nascent real estate recovery. Also in the news, China’s leading builder of outlet malls says the country has room for four times its current number of budget luxury centres, while mainland authorities discover why demand suppression is not commonly taught in economics classes. Read on for all these stories and more.

$72M Penthouse Seen Testing Singapore Luxury Market

The asking price for a new three-storey Singapore penthouse, complete with a private pool on the 64th floor, has reached a dizzying $72 million.

Due to be formally unveiled later this year, Wallich Residence’s penthouse is in the tallest building in Singapore, the island of well-heeled stability that attracts the super-rich from its less-developed Southeast Asian neighbors, as well as multi-millionaires from mainland China. Read more>>

China Has Room for 150 More Outlet Malls Says Outlet Mall Developer

China’s major outlet store developer and operator Beijing Capital Juda, which is backed by Sino-Ocean Group and KKR, said it would have opened 20 malls by 2020, as the country could accommodate another 150 outlets.

“By our calculation, there are about 50 standard outlets opened in China, compared to nearly 300 outlets in the US. We see great potential in the China’s market,” said Bryan Feng, chief executive officer of Beijing Capital Juda. Read more>>

China Housing Market Helps Define the Lunacy of Price Controls

The more China tries to rein in its roaring housing market, the more obsessed people get about buying.

In February, with this southern megalopolis in the throes of a property frenzy, state banks raised mortgage rates. Then came higher down-payment rules for second homes and limits on owning multiple apartments.

The result: Prices in Guangzhou continue to climb, and the market one town over has heated up. Read more>>

Anbang Controversy is Making Canadian Retirees Uneasy

No nursing home wants to be known for uncertainty and intrigue.

So a Canadian retirement home chain found itself in an uncomfortable position last year when it agreed to be bought by a politically connected Chinese company with a shadowy group of owners. Regulators approved the deal even though the buyer was under regulatory scrutiny in the United States, and while critics in Canada questioned the identities of its local representatives. Read more>>

S&P Puts Sunac on Credit Watch After $9.3B Wanda Deal

Sunac China Holdings B+ long-term corporate credit rating and cnBB- long-term Greater China regional scale rating have been placed on credit watch with negative implications, S&P Global Ratings said today.

This reflects reflects the agency’s view that Sunac’s financial leverage could further worsen following the large land acquisitions and expansion in the non-core segments, S&P Global Ratings said. Read more>>

Hong Kong Home Prices Predicted to Drop This Year

Hong Kong home prices will drop in the second half of the year as buying demand softens, according to property consultants Colliers International.

Vincent Cheung, the firm’s deputy managing director of valuation and advisory services in Asia said purchasing power in the housing market had been very much consumed and flat demand would soften. Read more>>

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