Communal housing leads the way in Mingtiandi’s roundup of Asia real estate headlines today with the news that co-living operators in Hong Kong have been forced to slash rents as occupancy rates fall.
In other news around the region, Hong Kong home prices recorded their biggest drop in 15 months, while a Singapore-based asset manager has been frustrated once again in its bid to get a representative on the board of an Aussie fund manager.
Elsewhere, a court hearing for the S$1.58 billion ($1.11 billion) merger of a pair of Singapore-listed trusts is expected to take place on Friday.
HK Co-living Operators Slash Rents as Occupancy Rates Fall
Operators of shared living spaces in Hong Kong have slashed their monthly rates by as much as 50 percent as they navigate a new normal of social distancing and people avoiding large crowds amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We offer 30 to 50 per cent discounts for our units in different locations,” said Zeta Yung, co-founder at The Cube Group that operates about 80 units in five locations on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon. Read more>>
Hong Kong Home Prices Record Biggest Drop in 15 months
Hong Kong home prices had their steepest drop in 15 months in February, and are expected to decline by up to 20 percent from a peak in June 2019 by year-end amid the coronavirus pandemic.
An index of used home prices dropped 2.1 percent last month, according to the city’s Rating and Valuation Department, its biggest monthly drop since December 2018. The decline also extended a three-month slide in home prices. Read more>>
ARA Fails Again In Bid for Cromwell Board Election
Singapore’s ARA Asset Management has failed in its second bid to get its nomination, Gary Weiss, elected to the board of Cromwell Property Group.
The Singaporean investment house, Cromwell’s major investor, had redoubled its efforts to get veteran director Dr Weiss onto the board after failing by just 1.3 percent at a shareholder meeting last year. Read more>>
China Housing Market Rebounds as Sales Triple
China’s private housing market is springing back to life as more sales offices reopened across the country following a nationwide shutdown, saving home builders from a deeper financial slump this year.
Transactions in at least eight large cities – Shenzhen, Chengdu, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Huaian, Yangzhou, Jiaxing, Shantou – indicated buyers have returned in recent weeks, with volume surpassing the average levels in the final quarter of 2019, according to China Real Estate Information Corporation (CRIC). Read more>>
Hong Kong Luxury Apartment Landlords Cut Rents By Up to 20%
If you are after a bargain on an upscale apartment in the world’s most-expensive property market, now may be the time.
The spreading novel coronavirus pandemic has crunched rents for luxury homes in Hong Kong as wealthy individuals hesitate to sign leases amid the gloomy economic outlook. Read more>>
Shui On Land Books 1% Rise in Net Profit
Commercial developer Shui On Land, a leading player in Shanghai, said net profit for the year ended 31 December 2019 increased by 1 percent from the year before to RMB 1.93 billion ($270 million).
Stable profitability was underpinned by rental and related income growth of 12 percent to RMB 2.25 billion, the company reported. Read more>>
Court Hearing for Frasers Trusts Merger Expected on Friday
The court hearing for the proposed merger of Frasers Logistics & Industrial Trust (FLT) and Frasers Commercial Trust (FCOT) is expected to take place on Friday.
Going by statements released by both FLT and FCOT, FCOT is expected to delist on 29 April, and the expected book closure date is 14 April. 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.
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