HK Office Space Now 76% More Expensive Than NYC and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

China may be celebrating the moon festival, but the real estate market refuses to take a break over this lunar holiday. A new study finds Hong Kong office space is still the most expensive in the world, and IKEA reveals plans for more China stores as part of a global expansion. Plus, Vancouver aims another tax at foreign buyers and much more, if you’ll only read on.

HK Office Space Now 76% More Expensive Than New York

Hong Kong has retained its No 1 ranking globally in office leasing rates, and is set to keep hold of its title as the world’s most expensive for the next few years, according to a report released Thursday.

Hong Kong ranked on top in a survey of 31 cities around the world, with prime office space leasing for an average of US$278.5 per square foot per annum, according to Knight Frank’s Skyscraper Index, which compiled figures the 9-month period ended June 30. Read more>>

IKEA Focuses on China, India for Global Expansion

Ikea Group laid out plans to accelerate its expansion in China and open its first store in India as the world’s largest furniture retailer seeks to boost sales by almost 50% over the next four years.

In China, where the company opened its first store almost two decades ago, sustained growth will enable an accelerated pace of expansion, chief executive officer Peter Agnefjaell said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. Read more>>

Vancouver to Tax Vacant Homes as Canada Takes Aim at Foreign Buyers

Vancouver, suffering from a near-zero supply of homes available for rent, plans to slap investors sitting on vacant properties with a new tax in an effort to make housing more accessible in Canada’s most-expensive property market.

The levy, which would start in January, may be as high as 2 per cent of the property’s assessed value, Kathleen Llewellyn-Thomas, the city’s general manager of community services, told reporters on Wednesday. Read more>>

Ping An, Mitsubishi May Team With Lend-Lease on A$1.5B Sydney Project

One of Japan’s largest property houses, Mitsubishi, has emerged, alongside China’s Ping An Insurance, as the parties being courted as capital partners for Lend Lease’s proposed Circular Quay Tower.

The move may see the groups team up to invest in the $1.5 billion tower that Lend Lease has proposed on the site, with the developer seeking a major precommitment before it begins. Read more>>

China’s Central Bank Warns on Housing Bubble

China should take steps to restrain bubble-like expansion in housing markets and tame excessive financial inflows into property, according to a central bank economist.

“Measures should be taken to put a brake on the excessive bubble expansion in the property sector, and we should curb excessive financing into the real estate sector,” Ma Jun, chief economist of the People’s Bank of China’s research bureau, said in an interview with China Business News. A third of the financial-system leverage added over the past decade has come from the surge of housing prices, Ma said. Read more>>

Wumart Teaming with TPG to Bid for China McDonald’s

Thirty years after entering China, U.S. fast-food giants Yum Brands and McDonald’s are changing their recipes for business operations in the country, with each using the same recipe — offloading their respective China operations.

In early September, Yum, which owns the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell chains, announced a sale of a slice of its China operations to private equity fund Primavera Capital Group and Ant Financial Services Group, which is affiliated with Alibaba Group. The move is a step in the company’s plan to spin off its China operation and list it on the New York Stock Exchange separately. Read more>>

Tune in again tomorrow for more news, and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter for headlines as they happen.