In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, Singapore’s CapitaLand offloads its two remaining malls in Japan at the same time that it buys a new logistics property in the country, an Abu Dhabi-backed group seeks to acquire an Indian mall for a record amount, and Hong Kong’s housing rebound drove property transactions to a 24-year high in the first half of 2021.
CapitaLand Sells Its Last Two Malls in Japan for Over $380M
CapitaLand has sold two of its retail malls in the Greater Tokyo area, Olinas Mall and Seiyu & Sundrug Higashimatsuyama, for more than JPY 42 billion ($380 million).
At the same time, the property giant said it will invest about JPY 7.5 billion to fully acquire a freehold site in Ibaraki City, Osaka and develop a four-storey modern logistics facility. In a bourse filing yesterday, CapitaLand said it expects to net a gain of close to JPY 9 billion from the recent sale of its two malls, which were divested above their total valuation. Read more>>
Hong Kong Real Estate Transactions Jump to 24-Year High in First Half
Hong Kong’s real estate market is gathering steam. Total transactions in Hong Kong’s property sector surged to a 24-year high in the first half, led by a bounce in residential assets, as investors piled into the market amid the economic recovery.
The overall volume, including homes, commercial and industrial properties, and car parking spaces, rose to HK$468.7 billion ($60.4 billion) in the first six months, the most since HK$483.6 billion in the first half of 1997, according to data compiled by Midland Realty. Read more>>
ADIA-backed India Group in Talks to Acquire Thane Mall From GIC
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority-backed Lake Shore India Advisory is in talks with realty developer Ashwin Sheth Group and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC to acquire Viviana Mall in Thane for around INR 2,000 crore ($267.7 million), said persons with direct knowledge of the development.
The proposed transaction will be the largest-ever single and operational retail property acquisition in the country. Read more>>
CBRE Buys Union Gaming to Bolster Gaming Investment Advisory
Commercial real estate giant CBRE Group is acquiring Union Gaming, a boutique investment bank focusing on the gaming industry.
The financial terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed. Based in Las Vegas, with another office in Hong Kong, Union Gaming was founded in 2008. The firm provides traditional investment banking services, including debt and equity offerings, advising on mergers and acquisitions, in addition to feasibility reviews and studies. Read more>>
Korea’s KIC Sceptical About Mergers with NPS, KDB
Korea Investment Corp CEO Jin Seoung-ho expressed his scepticism of a proposal by one of the ruling party’s presidential candidates to establish a “Korean version of Temasek” by integrating the sovereign wealth fund and the National Pension Service (NPS) Investment Management.
“The kind of assets under our management and our investment targets are different from those of the NPS. It seems unfeasible at this moment,” Jin said during a press conference held Thursday to celebrate his appointment to the job in May and the 16th anniversary of KIC. “We can consider joint investments and different kinds of cooperation with the NPS instead.” Read more>>
Singapore Bungalows on a Roll: H1 Deals Soar to $1 Billion
The Good Class Bungalow (GCB) market is on a roll. List Sotheby’s International Realty’s analysis of URA Realis caveats data shows that the year to date has witnessed 50 deals in GCB areas totalling nearly S$1.4 billion ($1 billion).
The figure is higher than the total for the whole of last year — 46 deals amounting to S$1.1 billion. Read more>>
China’s New-Home Prices in June Held Back by Curbs: Survey
Growth in China’s new-home prices remained largely steady in June, with momentum slowed by government curbs on rampant borrowing and caps on prices of housing projects in some cities, a private-sector survey showed Thursday.
New-home prices in 100 cities rose 0.36 percent in June from a month earlier, up slightly from 0.34 percent growth in May, according to data from China Index Academy, one of the country’s largest independent real estate research firms. Read more>>
Demand for India Office Space to Remain Flat in 2021
India’s office space leasing market has started to feel the pain caused by COVID-induced disruptions.
Not only did the segment report a second straight quarter of decline in net absorption during Q2 2021, but Grade A office vacancy levels also fell for the sixth straight quarter, breaching the 13-14 percent comfort zone for the first time since 2017. Read more>>
Tune in again soon for more real estate news and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter, or bookmark Mingtiandi’s LinkedIn page for headlines as they happen.
Leave a Reply