It was all fun and games for then PM Mahinda Rajapaksa until Sri Lanka lost a port
China’s Belt and Road initiative leads the region’s real estate news again today as a report deals how the global infrastructure program has led to mainland control of strategic infrastructure in Sri Lanka. Investors of a smaller scale are also having a big impact on real estate in Australia’s northern-most state as Chinese purchases of Queensland homes correlates with a surge in student visas, and one of Singapore’s biggest developers also gets some ink with its sale of a pair of commercial projects. Read on for all the details on these stories and more.
How China Secured a 99-Year-Lease for a Sri Lankan Port
Every time Sri Lanka’s president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, turned to his Chinese allies for loans and assistance with an ambitious port project, the answer was yes. Yes, though feasibility studies said the port wouldn’t work. Yes, though other frequent lenders like India had refused. Yes, though Sri Lanka’s debt was ballooning rapidly under Mr. Rajapaksa.
With tens of thousands of ships passing by along one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, the port drew only 34 ships in 2012. And then the port became China’s. Read more>>
Chinese Purchases of Queensland Real Estate Jump 72%
Chinese property investment is soaring in Queensland as a record number of students from the country enrol to study in the Sunshine State. Data from the Foreign Ownership of Land Register shows Chinese investors spent about $1.5 billion on Queensland properties in 2016-17 — up from $872 million two years earlier.
Nearly all the money was spent on properties in the Brisbane and Gold Coast local government areas, where more than 6,000 parcels of land were under Chinese ownership at the end of the 2017 financial year. Read more>>
CDL Sells Pair of SG Commercial Sites to Hwa Hong
Hwa Hong Corporation has acquired two commercial freehold plots at Jalan Besar in Singapore from City Developments Limited (CDL) for S$13.8 million in total.
The option to purchase was exercised by Hwa Hong’s indirect wholly owned subsidiary Global Trade Investment Management Pte Ltd (GTI) on Tuesday. Read more>>
Singapore to Sell Off Six Industrial Sites in 2H
Six industrial sites will be launched under the confirmed list of the Industrial Government Land Sales (IGLS) Programme by government agency JTC for the second half of this year.
Another seven sites will be made available for application under the reserve list, said the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Tuesday (June 26). All in, the land area of these 13 sites, which are zoned for Business-2 use, add up to 12.59 hectares. Read more>>
Hangzhou Bans Corporate Home Purchases Amid Housing Frenzy
Authorities in Hangzhou moved to prohibit corporate buying of housing, closing what some believe was a loophole that gave an unfair advantage to some purchasers under the lottery system, the latest measures to calm the city’s blistering residential market.
In statement published online Tuesday, the Hangzhou Housing Security and Management Bureau said it had suspended all purchases of new and pre-owned residential property by corporate and institutional buyers. Read more>>
Japan’s Sekisui House Wins Approval for A$900M Aussie Project
The Sunshine Coast Council has given the green light to developer Sekisui House for its controversial seven-storey Westin Coolum Spa and Resort, the first five-star resort developed on the Sunshine Coast in more than 30 years.
The Japanese developer, who is also developing a $1.5 billion town centre in Ipswich and West Village in Brisbane’s West End, made alterations to the Yaroomba Beach development after more than 9000 submissions against it were lodged. Read more>>
Myanmar Developer Questioned on CCCC Role in Yangon Project
Serge Pun, the CEO of the controversial New Yangon City project on Saturday partially disclosed the terms of a deal with a Hong Kong-listed Chinese firm that could see it provide infrastructure for the first phase of the development.
The revelation came amid a question and answer session at a public meeting organized by the New Yangon Development Company (NYDC) to discuss and hear the public’s views about the new city to the west of the Yangon River. Property mogul Serge Pun is also the vice chairman of the NYDC, the government body established to oversee the project. Read more>>
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