Manhattan-based KKR acquired a partial interest in the Hyatt Regency Tokyo during the second quarter
In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, some of the world’s top fund managers pile into Japan hotel assets, and China’s state media clarifies its stance on houses as investments. Also on the list, Hong Kong’s abysmal home sales and a mega-mansion up for sale.
Goldman, KKR, Blackstone Join Investor Rush for Japan Hotels
A rapid tourism recovery in Japan, bolstered by the return of Chinese visitors, and the highest level of inflation in four decades are fuelling a boom in hotel investment in the island nation.
Foreign investors, including Goldman Sachs, KKR and Blackstone, have spent a combined $2 billion on hotel deals in Japan so far in 2023, the most compared with any other sector in Asian commercial property, according to MSCI Real Assets. That’s already more than the $1.4 billion seen for all of 2022. Read more>>
‘Houses Are for Living, Not for Speculation’: China State Media
China should adhere to the principle that “houses are for living in, not for speculation” for the time being, the state-run Economic Daily said in an editorial Wednesday, amid an economically damaging downturn in the property sector.
China’s top leaders started using the phrase in late 2016, when they began introducing tighter rules for the property market, and its removal from the Politburo statement in July was seen as a signal that some of those curbs could be unwound. Read more>>
Hong Kong Sees Worst Sales of Newly Completed Homes Since 2019
Hong Kong developers saw the lowest sales since 2019 for new residential units completed as expensive borrowing costs weighed on the market.
Builders sold just 55 percent of apartments completed in the first six months, compared with the average sell-through rate of 78 percent in the last five years, according to data from property agency JLL. Read more>>
Hong Kong Mansion on the Market for $281M
A Hong Kong mega-mansion with views of Repulse Bay has hit the market for HK$2.2 billion ($281.1 million), making it the city’s priciest listing.
The residence is also among the most expensive homes on the market in the world, pricier than the $250 million penthouse at Central Park Tower in New York City, currently the US’s most expensive publicly listed property. In addition, earlier this year, a new mansion in Hong Kong’s exclusive Peak neighbourhood reportedly sold for HK$1.2 billion to a mainland Chinese buyer, Mansion Global reported. Read more>>
As Property Crisis Deepens, a ‘Lehman Moment’ for China?
Two years after the bond default by one of China’s biggest developers created the first shock waves, Beijing’s promise that everything is under control is becoming increasingly harder to sell to investors.
Fears jumped further this summer as ailing developer China Evergrande then reported a combined loss of RMB 812 billion ($112 billion) for 2021 and 2022 — a figure higher than its total earnings since it was established in 1996. Read more>>
Hong Kong Developers Offer Heavy Discounts to Clear Unsold Homes
Some of Hong Kong’s biggest developers have lined up sales of residential projects with revised price lists, using the recent prices as a benchmark to attract cautious buyers.
A total of 223 units in five projects in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories will be on offer this weekend. Read more>>
Wall Street’s China Dreams Fade as US Banks, Asset Managers Struggle to Expand
BlackRock became the first global asset manager to operate a wholly owned mutual fund business in China in 2021, roughly a year after CEO Larry Fink called the country “one of the biggest opportunities”.
Two years later, the world’s largest asset manager is struggling to compete in the market. BlackRock ranks 145th among nearly 200 Chinese mutual fund houses in terms of domestic assets under management, according to Wind, a financial data provider. Fidelity International and Neuberger Berman’s wholly owned China subsidiaries rank even lower. Read more>>
Global Funds Abandon China Blue Chips in $9.3B Sell-Off
Global investors have been shedding China’s blue-chip stocks in what’s been a record-selling streak, showing even the nation’s industry leaders are falling out of favour as a rout deepens.
Foreign investors sold RMB 6.2 billion ($851 million) in Kweichow Moutai shares during 7-18 August, making China’s largest liquor maker the most heavily sold stock via trading links with Hong Kong. Read more>>
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