Chengdu International Finance Square is luring luxury brands back to western China.
In Mingtiandi’s latest roundup of regional news headlines, consumers in China’s lower-tier cities are embracing global luxury brands, Singapore says foreign buying of homes fell to a 17-year low in 2020, and Thailand approves property tax and fee cuts to curb the impact of its recent coronavirus outbreak.
Luxury Brands Head Back Into China’s Lower-Tier Cities
Global deluxe watch and jewellery brands are expanding into lower-tier cities in mainland China, as growing wealth powers the best-performing retail locations for luxury goods in the world’s second-biggest economy.
Swiss watchmaker Omega, diamond jeweller De Beers and Italian ultra-prestigious jewellery house Buccelatti are among brands queuing to open new shops at Chengdu International Finance Square, one of the top 10 highest grossing malls in the country. Read more>>
Bukit Timah Site Priced at S$62.5M in Singapore
Three adjoining mixed-use redevelopment sites at 551 to 553 Bukit Timah Road, 6 to 8 Duke’s Road and a driveway have been put on the market via collective sale with a guide price of S$62.5 million ($47.1 million).
The freehold 16,479 square foot (1,531 square metre) site is zoned for residential and commercial use. It has a gross plot ratio of 3.0 and an allowable height of up to five storeys under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Master Plan 2019, sole marketing agent JLL said on Tuesday. Read more>>
Foreign Buying of SG Homes Drops to 17-Year Low
Foreigners snapping up private apartments in Singapore declined to a 17-year low last year as travel restrictions and lockdowns in various countries deterred them from coming to the city-state.
Purchases of units fell to 742 last year, according to real estate consultancy firms ERA Realty Network and OrangeTee & Tie. That’s the lowest since 2003, when non-permanent residents bought 671 units, based on analysis of government data as of Tuesday that takes into account new, sub-sale and second-hand apartments. Read more>>
China Could Propel HK Commercial Market Rebound
Activity in Hong Kong’s commercial and industrial property market is likely to return to pre-pandemic levels this year amid hopes of an economic recovery aided by COVID-19 vaccinations and mainland investors looking to deploy capital, say market observers.
Investment volume could rebound by as much as 60 percent to HK$98 billion ($12.6 billion) this year after they fell 40 percent year-on-year to a 17-year low of HK$62.56 billion in 2020, according to a forecast by Ricacorp (CIR) Properties. Volume in 2019 stood at HK$103.84 billion. Read more>>
SG Shophouses a Bright Spot in Virus-Ravaged 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic put a dent in overall property investment activity in 2020, shophouses in Singapore proved an exception as the only other segment after commercial and mixed-use to improve from 2019.
According to real estate services and investment management company Colliers International, 18 shophouses — each over S$10 million ($7.5 million) and worth a total of S$288 million — transacted in Q4 2020 alone. Read more>>
Thailand Approves Cuts on Property Tax, Fees to Ease Virus Impact
Thailand’s cabinet on Tuesday approved a cut on property tax and other fees for this year, forgoing revenue of about THB 41 billion ($1.37 billion) to help ease the impacts of its latest coronavirus outbreak.
The tax on land and buildings was cut by 90 percent while some registration and transfer fees were reduced to 0.01 percent from 1-2 percent, government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri told a briefing. Read more>>
Suntec REIT Posts 3.7% Cut in Distributions for Q4
Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust (Suntec REIT) on Tuesday posted a 3.7 percent fall in distribution per unit to 2.261 Singapore cents for the fourth quarter compared with 2.347 Singapore cents for the year-ago period.
Gross revenue also fell 12 percent at S$165.9 million ($125 million) for H2, compared with $188.7 million a year earlier. This was due to the REIT’s losses from a fall in rental income, most significantly from its office and retail properties such as Suntec Singapore, for which revenue fell by 65.9 percent. Read more>>
Hyderabad Office Market Sees Net Absorption Rise 83%
The Hyderabad office market has exhibited signs of sustained recovery with net absorption increasing continuously over the past three quarters, with Q4 2020 witness to a net absorption of 2.83 million square feet (262,916 square metres), a jump of 83 percent over the previous quarter.
This was backed by new completions during the quarter getting operational with full occupancy. This is at par with the average quarterly levels witnessed in the historic year of 2019. Hitec City and Gachibowli continued to attract occupiers, accounting for a major chunk of the leasing activity, according to real estate consultancy JLL. Read more>>
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