Australia has sussed out another eight foreigners illegally buying local homes, while Fosun is said to be sniffing around Ascendas’ hotel REIT and Wang Jianlin has another IPO to talk up. All these headlines and more if you just read on.
Aussies Force Sale of 8 Illegally Bought Homes – Mostly Chinese
The Australian government says it has ordered the sale of another eight residential properties bought in breach of foreign ownership laws, in a response to concerns that offshore buyers were driving up house prices.
Homes in Australian state capitals are considered among the most overpriced in the world, and the federal government has announced penalties for foreigners who breach existing rules that restrict them to buying new homes only. Read more>>
Fosun and Starwood Eye Ascendas Hotel REIT
Starwood Capital Group, the property investment firm, and Chinese billionaire Guo Guangchang’s Fosun International Ltd. are weighing bids for Ascendas Hospitality Trust, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Starwood Capital, which manages about $45 billion of assets, and Fosun are studying the Singapore-based hotel owner and could submit offers as early as the end of January, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. Read more>>
Wanda’s Wang Jianlin Downplays China Housing Risks
China’s richest businessman Wang Jianlin has played down the prospect of an overall property downturn saying that the most risk is in smaller cities which make up a minor part of national property value.
But he has flagged a series of sharemarket floats for his emerging internet and finance businesses while emphasising that he is shifting more into property management and away from ownership. Read more>>
Yuan Slide Brings More Developer Debt Issues Back to the Mainland
As the Chinese yuan falls in value against the dollar, a growing number of Chinese property companies are buying back their dollar-denominated debt.
Such companies, driven by a thirst for cheap debt when global interest rates were low, have dominated Chinese issuance of high-yield bonds overseas to date, raising $66 billion over the last five years. Read more>>
38% Surge in China Land Prices Raises Questions
In a tower with a golden facade that the local government uses as a venue for land auctions near Shanghai’s business district, a dozen Chinese developers were involved in a frenzied bidding war in October. Within 25 minutes, they pushed the price of a plot of land an hour’s drive from the city center almost 50 percent higher.
“Everyone, please be rational in bidding,” the auctioneer cautioned. The warning fell on deaf ears. Almost 100 bids and four warnings from the auctioneer later, the 1.4 million-square-foot plot was sold for 7.3 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) on Oct. 25 to Cinda Real Estate Co. Read more>>
Dalian Wanda Plans IPO for Internet Finance Unit
Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group is planning an initial public offering (IPO) for its Internet finance business, betting on booming growth as it leverages the millions of customers packing its shopping malls, chairman Wang Jianlin said yesterday.
The plan is part of a broader goal to capitalise other units, including its film, tourism and sports businesses, via stock listings, Mr Wang, China’s richest man, said at the Asia Financial Forum. He gave no timeline for any IPOs. Read more>>
Tune in again tomorrow for more news, and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter for headlines as they happen.
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