Citi Says HK Home Prices to Rise 10% This Year and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Hong Kong’s unsettled property market leads the way in Mingtiandi’s roundup of Asia real estate headlines with the news that a major US bank has predicted that home prices in the city will rise by as much as ten percent by the end of 2020.

In other news around the region, mainland Chinese investors have disappeared completely from the market in one Asian financial hub, while the Australian arm of a mainland China developer kicks off a A$500 million ($323 million) Sydney commercial development.

Elsewhere, an office project in Singapore has obtained its temporary occupation permit with 70 percent of its space already leased.

Citigroup Says Worst Is Over for Hong Kong Property Prices

The worst is likely over for Hong Kong’s residential real estate market and home prices should resume their upward trajectory from this month to rise as much as 10 percent by the end of the year.

That’s according to Citigroup, which also said in a report dated 4 May that now is a good time for investors to buy the shares of Hong Kong retail landlords on expectations of a pick up in consumer activity. Read more>>

Mainland Chinese Buyers Shy Away from Hong Kong Real Estate

The world’s priciest property market has lost its most important source of inbound investment.

Mainland Chinese buyers are shying away from real estate in Hong Kong as the coronavirus pandemic clouds the economic outlook and keeps investors from travelling to the city. Not a single commercial property transaction in the first quarter involved a buyer from mainland China, the first time that has happened since 2009, according to CBRE. Read more>>

Poly Kicks Off Construction at A$500m Poly Centre

Poly Australia has officially broken ground on its flagship commercial development, the Poly Centre at Circular Quay in Sydney.

The A-grade office tower, located at 210 George Street, was anticipated to commence construction in early 2019, but was delayed following an “intricate project journey” according to the developer. Read more>>

Baker McKenzie Advises Equinix on $1B Data Centre JV with GIC

Leading global law firm Baker McKenzie advised data centre company Equinix on its $1 billion joint venture with GIC, Singapore’s global wealth fund, to develop and operate xScaleTM data centres in Japan.

The three initial facilities in the joint venture – one in Osaka and two in Tokyo – will serve the unique core workload deployment needs of a targeted group of hyperscale companies, including the world’s largest cloud service providers, and streamline their continued growth, as well as strengthening Equinix’s leadership position in supporting the cloud ecosystem. Read more>>

Singapore’s 79 Robinson Road Obtains Temporary Occupation Permit

Grade A office building 79 Robinson Road has received its temporary occupation permit (TOP) on 28 April, property giant CapitaLand said in a regulatory update.

The 29-storey office development has a net lettable area of 518,000 square feet (48,124 square metres) and is jointly owned by CapitaLand, Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co and developer Tokyo Tatemono. Read more>>

90% of Hong Kong Projects Delayed Due to COVID-19

The COVID-19 outbreak has thrown a spanner in the works of Hong Kong’s property industry. The delivery of at least 1,900 homes to buyers will be delayed, while some developers risk losing hundreds of millions of dollars in booking sales, as the pandemic disrupts construction activity in the city due to supply shocks and a slow down in government approvals.

The completion date for Wheelock Properties’ Malibu project in Lohas Park, Emperor International’s Seaside Castle in Tuen Mun and a joint venture development between Chevalier Group and Urban Renewal Authority in Kowloon, have been postponed between two and six months. Read more>>

HK Healthcare Firm Allots Shares to Landlord to Offset HK$33.9M In Rent

Hong Kong-based Union Medical Healthcare has found a unique way of meeting its rent obligation amid an economy ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic.

In a first, the company, which provides medical and health care services through 56 clinics and service centres in Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China, has allotted about 8 million shares, or 0.8 percent of its enlarged share capital, to Champion REIT, its landlord at Langham Place in Hong Kong’s Mong Kok district. Read more>>

Tune in again tomorrow for more news, and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter, or bookmark Mingtiandi’s LinkedIn page for headlines as they happen.

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