Li Ka-shing’s Fortune REIT, managed by ARA Asset Management, says goodbye to Singapore
The Superman of Hong Kong’s property world leads the way in Mingtiandi’s roundup of Asia headlines today with the news that a REIT managed by an affiliate of the billionaire’s CK Asset Holdings is de-listing from the Singapore stock exchange.
In other news around the region, residential projects are stalling amid a liquidity crisis in the India property market, and a Softbank-backed hotel group is poised to make a $300 million push into the US, while financing restrictions in China are driving developers to sell US dollar bonds abroad at a high interest.
Elsewhere, Singapore tops the tables with the most super penthouses currently on sale in the world.
Li Ka-Shing’s Fortune REIT to De-list from SGX
Hong Kong and Singapore dual-listed Fortune REIT will delist from the mainboard of the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
In a bourse filing on Wednesday, its manager ARA Asset Management cited overheads, cost of compliance and low trading volumes in Singapore as reasons for the de-listing. Read more>>
Softbank-backed OYO in $300M Push into US
Oyo Hotels & Homes, a lodging operator backed by SoftBank’s Vision Fund, is betting the same formula that fuelled the company’s rapid growth in India and China can work in the US.
Oyo, which opened its first U.S. hotel at the beginning of the year, plans to invest $300 million to expand in the country, Chief Executive Officer Ritesh Agarwal said in an interview. Read more>>
6 of 11 Super Penthouses on Sale Globally Are in Singapore
Of the 11 “super penthouses” around the world now on the market, six are in Singapore.
The biggest of the super penthouses in Singapore is in Wallich Residence, with a floor area of 21,108 square feet and a building height of 950 feet or 289.5 metres. The other super penthouses currently on the market are in Monaco, Miami, New York, and Auckland, New Zealand. Read more>>
Tech Hub Shenzhen Hits Decade-High Office Vacancy
Vacancies in the office market in Shenzhen, South China’s Guangdong province, hit a decade-high in the first half of 2019, burdened by a flood of new space entering the market and lingering fallout from a recent cleanup in the financial technology sector.
The vacancy rate for class-A space in the city now stands at 23.3 percent, a high for the last decade, according to a market report for the first half of 2019 released Tuesday by global real estate services firm Colliers International. The situation was most severe in the city’s Qianhai area near the border with Hong Kong, which posted a vacancy rate of 65.7 percent. Read more>>
Tight Credit Drives Mainland Developers Abroad for Financing
Government-driven tight credit-market conditions in China are prompting property developers to sell US dollar bonds overseas at double the cost of borrowing domestically.
A total of 18 Chinese real estate companies issued bonds so far in June, of which 11 sold or planned to sell bonds overseas with a total estimated issuance of more $3 billion. That compares with only two offshore bond offerings by domestic developers in May, according to a report by property consultancy China Real Estate Information Corp (CRIC). Read more>>
Liquidity Crisis Grips India Property Market
Lenders to stressed property developers are looking to sell their loans or take deep haircuts, apart from selling entire projects to stronger developers as a liquidity crisis grips real estate.
With many residential projects stalled or delayed amid weak sales, interest burden has ballooned, prompting banks, non-banking financial companies and private equity funds to exit with a haircut. The haircuts could range from 20-60 percent depending on the net asset value of the project, according to industry estimates. Read more>>
Flexible Workspace Growth to Slow in 2019
Flexible office space take-up is projected to slow down across Asia Pacific this year after the rapid expansion witnessed in 2018, with significant M&A also on the cards, says advisor Colliers.
“In 2018 we witnessed the highest annual growth in the sector across the region, with total space occupied by flexible workspace operators increasing by 35 percent on Hong Kong Island, over 40 percent in Shanghai and Singapore continuing its growth story having now more than tripled since 2015,” said Jonathan Wright, head of flexible workspace services, Asia at Colliers. 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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