Hong Kong Housing Market Set to Rise 10% in 2018

Hong Kong’s soaring housing prices could climb still higher in 2018

Housing prices seem to be rising across Asia, and the region’s highest priced market may continue to rise another 10 percent in the new year. Also in the news, London’s best known department story goes under the knife to win over Asian shoppers, and mainland warehouse developer ESR walks away from its attempted buyout of a Singapore industrial REIT. Read on for all these stories and more.

HK’s High-Flying Housing Market Set to Rise 10% in 2018

Hong Kong’s red-hot housing market shows no signs of cooling anytime soon.

Prices in the city have climbed 11 percent this year, defying skeptics waiting for the bubble to burst and government attempts to rein in the world’s most expensive housing market through a raft of taxes and mortgage curbs.

If anything, the frenzy has intensified in recent months as investors have poured money into property. Buyers have set new records for everything from luxury homes in the exclusive Peak neighborhood to undeveloped residential land. Read more>>

Ping An Invests S$163M in Healthcare Operator

Singapore-based Fullerton Healthcare Corp on Tuesday said it received an investment of 800 million yuan (S$163.25 million) from Ping An Capital, the core equity investment platform of China’s Ping An Insurance.

Ping An Insurance, the controlling shareholder of Ping An Capital, is the world’s second-largest insurer by market value behind only Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Read more>>

London’s Harrods Takes on £200m Makeover to Romance Asia’s Shopping Elite

Harrods has begun the biggest redevelopment in the department store’s 170-year history to increase its appeal to wealthy overseas shoppers flocking to Britain to exploit the weak pound.

The boss of Harrods, which is owned by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, said £200m will be spent redeveloping all of the shop’s one million sq ft of retail space over the next three years. The famous exterior with its 12,000 light bulbs and green awnings will be untouched. Read more>>

ESR Acquisition of Singapore’s Sabana REIT Called Off

Sabana Shariah Compliant Industrial Reit said on Saturday that it has ceased talks with Warburg Pincus-backed e-Shang Redwood (ESR) that were exploring options related to the Sabana Reit’s strategic review.

Sources familiar with the process told Reuters in August that Asian logistics developer e-Shang Redwood was in advanced talks to buy the Sabana real estate investment trust (Reit), as a first step in the consolidation of Singapore’s US$3.5 billion mid-cap industrial trusts. Read more>>

SG Home Prices Could Rise 5% in Next Two Years Says Macquarie

Macquarie Research believes the Singapore property sector is headed for an upcycle, with residential property prices expected to rise by 3-5% per annum over the next two years.

“We continue to expect a price recovery, following the residential sales volume pick-up in 2017,” says Macquarie lead analyst Ken Ang in a report on Friday. “We expect developers to trade at a narrowed RNAV discount to reflect the residential upcycle.” Read more>>

Singapore’s Chip Eng Seng Acquires Pair of Perth Sites

CHIP Eng Seng Corporation Ltd has agreed to acquire two adjoining properties in South Perth in Australia through a joint venture, with plans to redevelop them into a mixed-use development.

Its newly incorporated wholly owned subsidiary CES South Perth (WA) Pty Ltd entered into a share subscription agreement on Wednesday to subscribe for 7.355 million new shares in CES Sirona Lyall (WA) Pty Ltd, the JV company, for A$7.4 million (S$7.6 million). This represents a 70 per cent stake. 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.