Carrie Lam wishes everyone, except maybe some developers, a happy mid-autumn
Today’s roundup of regional news headlines kicks off with Hong Kong developers in the hot seat, as a report surfaces that they’ve been pressured to toe the Beijing party line, sending shares tumbling. The city’s top leader had no comment on the “rumours”, while at least one developer denied the claim.
Carrie Lam Mum on Report of Beijing Pushing HK Builders
Hong Kong’s leader has said developers have been more cooperative with the government lately in trying to boost housing supply, but she steered clear of directly commenting on a report claiming that Beijing was piling pressure on the city’s property tycoons to back its interests.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam was asked if Beijing had used a closed-door meeting to order local property tycoons to put their resources and influence into helping solve the city’s housing woes. Lam said she could neither verify nor comment on what she called “rumours”. Read more>>
HK Developers Plunge on Report of Beijing Targeting Sector
Hong Kong’s property developers have been left reeling after a sell-off purportedly attributed to the Chinese government’s injunctions for them to serve the national interest drained 6.75 percent from a gauge that tracks the city’s real estate stocks.
Housing affordability has long been one of the top woes afflicting Hong Kong, and Chinese government officials have urged the city’s developers and authorities to put their resources together to address the issue. Still, the weekend’s elections that tightened Beijing’s grip on Hong Kong raised concerns that the city’s developers may be subject to the same kind of market-cooling measures that pummelled their mainland Chinese peers. Read more>>
Sun Hung Kai Denies China Is Pressing Hong Kong Developers
Hong Kong’s biggest developer and a real estate industry group poured cold water on the notion that the Chinese government is putting pressure on the city’s developers.
Sun Hung Kai Properties hasn’t heard of information suggested in media reports that Beijing is squeezing builders, the company said in a statement late Monday. The Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong said it was unaware of any meetings between developers and Beijing officials. Read more>>
Evergrande Shares, Bonds Tumble Further After S&P Says Default Likely
China Evergrande Group slid deeper in stock and credit markets Tuesday, fuelling concerns about broader contagion after S&P Global Ratings said the developer was on the brink of default.
The distressed developer’s shares in Hong Kong dropped as much as 7 percent after closing on Monday, the lowest in about a decade. Evergrande’s 8.25 percent US dollar bond due in 2022 fell to 24.9 US cents, leaving it down some 75 percent since late May, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg. The junk-rated company is the biggest issuer of high-yield notes in Asia. Read more>>
HNA to Be Broken Into Four Pieces in Restructuring
HNA Group, one of China’s largest global asset buyers spawned from the country’s largest privately owned airline, will be divided into four parts, with each unit operating independently, according to a restructuring blueprint unveiled over the weekend.
“As the bankruptcy reorganisation has entered the final stage, we will do our best to ensure that risks are resolved in a steady and orderly manner,” said Gu Gang, executive chairman and the head of the working committee responsible for untangling the group’s estimated RMB 500 billion ($77.3 billion) worth of debts. Read more>>
Wheelock Says Land Sharing Proposal a ‘Win-Win’
Private flats to be built under a plan to tap Hong Kong developers’ land reserves will not necessarily cost more and represent a “win-win” solution for all stakeholders, even though most of the land is earmarked for public housing under the proposal, according to Ricky Wong, managing director of Wheelock Properties.
Under the Land Sharing Pilot Scheme initiated in May last year, owners of farmland can apply to the government to increase the development density of their sites, but they must set aside at least 70 percent of the increased floor area for affordable public sector housing. In return, the government will improve the infrastructural development to enhance the development intensity of the private lots and speed up various planning and project approvals. Read more>>
Tender for Jalan Papan Industrial Site Flops in Singapore
The tender for an industrial site in Singapore’s Jalan Papan area, launched by JTC on 29 June, will not be awarded.
Two bids were received for the site; the highest qualified bid was not accepted, as the price offered was below the reserve price. The site is the last of three Confirmed List sites for the first half of the 2021 industrial government land sales programme. Read more>>
Race Starts for Tung Chung MTR Site in Hong Kong
MTR Corp will invite developers and consortia to submit expressions of interest for the Tung Chung traction substation property development, with the deadline being 2pm on 28 September.
The project is a residential development to be built atop Tung Chung traction substation and its associated railway facilities with a maximum residential gross floor area of 87,288 square metres (939,560 square feet) that may provide 1,400 to 1,800 residential units. Read more>>
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