Co-Living Hotel Chain Launched in Singapore and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Co-living hotels lead the way in Mingtiandi’s roundup of Asia real estate headlines today with the news that a Singapore-based restaurants owner is rolling out a line of millennial-friendly inns that cater to the sharing economy.

In other news around the region, Hong Kong’s second-largest developer has resorted to cutting prices by up to ten percent on its first property launch of the year, while a mainland China listings portal has filed for an IPO, seeking to raise $150 million.

Elsewhere, a spike in property enquiries down under has coincided with a doubling of visa applications from Hong Kong.

Co-living Hotel Chain Launched in Singapore

Katrina Group has announced the launch of the first affordable line of co-living hotels in Singapore.

Introduced through its hospitality arm, ST Hospitality Group, the Chinatown co-living hotel will be followed by a rollout in Singapore and the Asia Pacific region. This marks Katrina Group Ltd’s first major expansion after the acquisition of Straits Organisation Pte Ltd. Read more>>

CK Asset Slashes Prices on First Property Launch of 2019

CK Asset Holdings, Hong Kong’s second-largest developer, will discount its first new property project of the year by as much as ten percent as it bows to a stalling real estate market that had been rattled by four months of unprecedented street protests.

The first 180 flats of Seaside Sonata in Cheung Sha Wan, a suburb in New Kowloon served by several subway stations, will be priced at an average of HK$18,688 ($2,383) per square foot, with sizes from 488 square feet (45 square metres) to 785 square feet. The project, comprising 876 apartments in four towers, is scheduled for completion in June 2021. Read more>>

Singapore’s Xander Group Buying Mumbai Commercial Plot for $100M

Alternative investment firm The Xander Group’s retail arm has agreed to buy a 20-acre land parcel in Thane, Mumbai from Raymond Group for Rs 700 crore (about $100 million).

Xander said in a statement that unit Virtuous Retail South Asia Pte Ltd will invest an additional $240 million to build a retail-focussed mixed-use project covering an area of 3.7 million sq ft at the site. The transaction will increase Virtuous Retail’s pan-India portfolio to 11 million sq ft across the national capital region, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Surat and in Punjab. Read more>>

Online Listings Platform Fangdd Eyes $150M IPO

Fangdd Network Group Ltd, China’s largest online real estate marketplace in terms of registered agents, has filed for an initial public offering in New York, seeking to sell up to $150 million worth of its American depositary shares.

The Shenzhen company provides SaaS-based solutions to real estate agents in China for managing customers, property listings, capital and transaction data, it said in its preliminary prospectus filed Tuesday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Read more>>

Spike in Aussie Property Enquiries as Visa Applications From HK Double

A recovery in the Melbourne and Sydney property markets is being boosted by Hong Kong investors fleeing anti-government protests, experts said.

The number of Hong Kong residents applying for business visas for millionaires looking to migrate to Australia might have doubled since June this year, when the protests started. Read more>>

Proposed Indiabulls Finance Merger Shot Down by Reserve Bank of India

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has rejected the proposed merger between Lakshmi Vilas Bank and Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd, scuppering the first ever attempt by a non-bank lender to merge with a bank in the country.

“This is to inform that RBI vide their letter dated October 09, 2019, informed that the application for voluntary amalgamation of Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd and Indiabulls Commercial Credit Ltd with The Lakshmi Vilas Bank Ltd cannot be approved,” Lakshmi Vilas Bank said in a stock exchange filing. Read more>>

Mainland China Developers Report Strong Growth

Major property developers in China saw better-than-expected sales growth in September, but tightened financing and market regulation still point to pressure on the industry in the coming months.

Contracted sales of China Evergrande Group, a leading property firm, set a new monthly record of RMB 83 billion ($12 billion) in September, according to a company statement. Read more>>

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