Hong Kong Home Sales Jumped 20% in April and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Hong Kong has the world’s most expensive homes, but the city’s famous unaffordability seemed to only attract more buyers in April, as housing sales rose 20 percent. Also in the news, a Singaporean developer expands its Sydney footprint, and John Lim’s ARA lead the chase for their own Aussie target. Read on for all these stories and more.

Hong Kong Home Sales Jumped 20% in April

Home sales continued at a robust pace in Hong Kong, the world’s most expensive housing market, to hit a seven-month high in April.

The number of residential property transactions, in both the primary and secondary markets, jumped 20.5 per cent to 7,060 last month from 5,857 in March, marking four consecutive months of growth and the highest single-month volume since September, according to Land Registry data released on Thursday. Read more>>

Far East Organisation Buying Sydney Post Office for A$150M

Singapore’s giant Far East Organization has swooped on the freehold of the historic Sydney GPO with a deal in train that will see the company own the bulk of the complex in a $150 million purchase.

The group, which already owns a portion of the Sydney landmark, is buying the historic post office space and areas in the complex occupied by luxury restaurants and up-market cafes. Read more>>

ARA Said Leading Race for A$275M Sydney Tower

Singaporean investors are flexing their muscle in Sydney’s central business district, with ARA Asset Management emerging as the suitor on a major Pitt Street tower being sold by a Propertylink Group-managed fund.

Propertylink won heavy interest in the 320 Pitt Street tower in the heart of Sydney’s central business district and it could sell for about $275 million as it is primed for an overhaul as the leasing market is so strong. Read more>>

Losses in ‘at Least Half’ of Sentosa Cove Home Sales

They may boast Singapore’s most prestigious address, but Sentosa Cove properties are far from the guaranteed money spinners their wealthy owners may imagine.

Of the 30 Sentosa Cove transactions in the past 12 months, many recorded losses, according to data from Knight Frank. Of the total, 16 suffered losses when they were sold, and 11 notched profits. There was no data available on the previous transactions for three of the properties. Read more>>

Institutional Investments in India Offices to Rise 4X in 2017

Divestment by large developers is estimated to drive four-fold rise in institutional funds inflow into India’s commercial real estate this year to $3.5 billion, a new peak for these investments, said an RICS -Cushman & Wakefield report.

Next two years are also likely to witness continued momentum of investments into the office sector as Real Estate Investment Trusts become a reality. A lot of institutional capital is chasing the limited investible grade office stock of 280 million sq ft across top 8 property markets. Read more>>

China Targets 50% Green Home Construction by 2020

China pledged that half of the houses to be built by 2020 will be “green buildings,” which is expected to boost building energy efficiency by 20 percent from 2015, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said yesterday.

Smart buildings and modular buildings — prefabricated models that are built at a factory and then brought to a construction site to be stacked together — will help upgrade the structure of China’s building industry as the area of modular buildings is forecast to take up 15 percent of the newly built homes by 2020, the ministry said. Read more>>

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