What to do with an oversupply of housing that local customers won’t buy? The city of Zhuhai in Guangdong province is trying the time-honoured solution marketing these unwanted homes to people from out of town. Plus government officials prove that China is not Japan, Li Ka-shing puts a Caribbean playground on the market, and much more. Just read on for all the headlines.
Li Ka-Shing Puts 409-Acre Bahamas Resort on the Block
The Grand Lucayan resort complex in Grand Bahama is for sale. The 409-acre resort, the largest on Grand Bahama, is being sold in a sealed bid auction by its owner, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Cheung Kong Property Holdings Limited.
The company has engaged HVS Capital to act as advisor in the sale. According to HVS, Cheung Kong’s preference is to sell the resort as a single transaction, but bids for individual assets will be considered. Read more>>
Zhuhai Opens Housing Market to Non-Locals
Zhuhai, the Chinese city bordering Macau, lifted all home buying restrictions on non residents Wednesday, in the latest action by a municipal government seeking to rekindle housing sales.
The city lifted restrictions on flat purchases by non-locals for units under 144 square meters in its core area — Xiangzhou District.
Zhuhai has enforced strict buying restrictions in Xiangzhou since 2011, but lifted buying restrictions on flats larger than 144 square meters in 2014 amid slow sales and increasing stock. Read more>>
Govt Says China Real Estate Will Be Just Fine
China’s real estate market will not collapse as happened in Japan two decades ago, because the situations of the two countries are very different, Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Chen Zhenggao said on Tuesday.
“It is not appropriate to compare the real estate market in China with that of Japan in the 1990s, as the two countries are in different stages of economic development and urbanization. We also have different macro policies to control the situation,” Chen said at a news conference. Read more>>
How Much Did Wanda Really Pay for Legendary Entertainment?
With the hiring of Mary Parent as vice chair of worldwide production at Legendary Entertainment, China’s Dalian Wanda Group has added some steak to the sizzle of the company it acquired in January for $3.5 billion. Or at least that’s the number widely reported. Like much about the deal, the reality of that figure is far from clear.
What does seem clear is that Wanda bought out such other Legendary investors as Japan’s SoftBank for a big number, but many Hollywood insiders with ties to China believe it doesn’t matter if the price was high because Wanda expects to make an even bigger amount when it sells a company revolving around Legendary to the public. Read more>>
Ping An Reaps Big Returns on Risky Investments
China’s Ping An Insurance had its best investing year ever in 2015. But how it got there should worry investors.
Ping An, one of China’s largest insurers—and recognized as a systemically important insurer globally, with sprawling financial operations including its own bank—reported a 7.8% investment yield, 2.7 percentage points better than the year before. Read more>>
Singapore Office Rents Could Slide 25% Says Daiwa
Singapore office rents may decline as much as 25 per cent in a prolonged slump that may last until the end of 2018, as demand slows, according to Daiwa Securities.
Daiwa expects 2018 to be a highly risky year for lease renewals and forecasts that rents will continue to fall until then, Mr David Lum, an analyst at the brokerage said in a note to clients. Read more>>
Wheelock Sells Pedder St HQ to Wharf for HK$5 Billion
Wharf Holdings (0004) has agreed to buy the headquarters building of Wheelock and Company (0020) in Central for HK$5.02 billion.
It will also acquire ground- floor shops in the building on Pedder Street from former Wharf and Wheelock chairman Peter Woo Kwong-ching for HK$1.14 billion.
Son Douglas Woo Chun-kuen now chairs Wheelock while Stephen Ng Tin-hoi heads Wharf. Read more>>
Tune in again tomorrow for more news, and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter for headlines as they happen.
Leave a Reply