Evergrande Sued Over Unpaid Commissions and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, a Hong Kong property agency takes legal action against China Evergrande over unpaid commissions, Singapore’s CapitaLand teams up with Japan’s Mitsubishi Estate on a business park west of Shanghai, and New World Development chairman Henry Cheng’s wife picks up a pricey Peak property.

Evergrande Sued by HK Property Agency Over Unpaid Commissions

Hong Kong’s biggest property sales agency plans to take further legal action against a subsidiary of China Evergrande Group to recoup “unpaid commission” from the troubled developer.

Centaline Property Agency said it will apply through the courts to chase HK$113 million ($14.5 million) owed to Centaline by Evergrande’s Hong Kong unit. Read more>>

CapitaLand, Mitsubishi Estate to Develop Business Park in Suzhou

CapitaLand’s development arm has formed a joint venture with Japanese real estate group Mitsubishi Estate to invest RMB 1.5 billion ($240 million) to develop a business park in China’s Suzhou New District.

Construction of the project will begin in 2022, and the business park is expected to be completed in 2024. Singapore-based CapitaLand will undertake the master planning and development of the business park, while the operations will be managed by CapitaLand Investment. Read more>>

New World Chairman’s Wife Pays $58M for Peak Luxury Flat 

The wife of Henry Cheng, Hong Kong’s third-richest man, has bought a flat on The Peak for HK$450 million ($57.7 million), as the city’s most well-heeled residents continue to channel their capital into bricks and mortar to protect their wealth.

Katherine Ip bought the four-bedroom, 4,256 square foot (395 square metres) apartment at 8 Peak Road from CSI Properties and Phoenix Property Investors last month, according to sources familiar with the deal. Read more>>

Emperor International Sells Shau Kei Wan Plot for $88M

Emperor International Holdings has sold a plot in Hong Kong’s Shau Kei Wan neighbourhood for HK$688 million ($88 million).

The site, located on 67-77 Nam On Street, was originally occupied by three adjoining old buildings with an aggregate site area of 5,900 square feet (548 square metres). Emperor is expected to record a gain of HK$214.1 million on the disposal. Read more>>

Hong Kong’s Lived-In Home Prices Fell to 7-Month Low in November

Hong Kong’s lived-in home prices fell to a seven-month low in November after peaking in August, as buyers were put off by the stock market slump and a looming interest rate increase in the US.

Prices dropped to 391.5 last month, down 1.18 percent from October, according to an index published by the city’s Rating and Valuation Department on Wednesday. Read more>>

Singapore CBD Office Rents Set to Spike in in 2022: JLL

Overall demand for Grade A office space in Singapore’s central business district could outpace supply next year and thus fuel rental growth that is at least double the 4.2 percent increase in 2021, according to JLL.

That is assuming market normalisation is not derailed by new COVID-19 variants and barring adverse external shocks, the firm’s head of research and consultancy for Singapore, Tay Huey Ying, said Thursday. Read more>>

Hong Kong Scraps Middleman Role of Law Firms in Mortgage Deals

The role of lawyers as middlemen in residential mortgage transactions is to be abolished under new rules designed to protect Hong Kong homebuyers.

The change will allow a bank to pay the mortgage loan secured by a homebuyer directly into the bank account of the seller electronically. The buyer would then use a cashier order to pay the remaining balance to the seller. Read more>>

China Plans Four Data Centre Clusters

China has approved plans to build four mega clusters of data centres in the country’s north and west with the aim of supporting the data needs of Beijing and major coastal centres, the country’s top state planner said Wednesday.

The clusters will be built in the northern Inner Mongolia region, northwestern Ningxia region, Gansu province and southwestern Guizhou province, the National Development and Reform Commission said. Read more>>

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