Mainland Home Prices Rise as HK Goes Quiet and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Housing markets lead the way in Mingtiandi’s roundup of Asia real estate headlines today with the news that home prices grew at their fastest pace in nearly half a year on China’s mainland, at the same time that sales in the country’s most expensive had flopped over the weekend as buyers decided that politics were more important that real estate — at least for a few days.

In other news around the region, a developer backed by Singapore’s billionaire Kwek clan has entered a joint venture to build an RMB 3 billion mixed-use development in Guangdong, and a Singaporean real estate investment manager is predicting that it will boost its deal volume to more than $7 billion annually.

Elsewhere, an SGX-listed REIT’s private placement raised S$100 million, missing its target of S$150 million, and London commercial property deals have been left in limbo after investors from one particular East Asian country go quiet.

China Home Prices Rise at Fastest Pace in 5 Months

New home prices in China rose at their fastest pace in five months in May, complicating government efforts to keep frothy housing markets under control as it rolls out more stimulus for the slowing economy.

Average new home prices in China’s 70 major cities rose 0.7% in May from the previous month, picking up from a 0.6% rise in April and the quickest pace since December, according to Reuters calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data on Tuesday. Read more>>

Buyers Shun Hong Kong Home Sales Amid Unrest

Property sales were disappointing on Sunday in Hong Kong’s biggest offering since early May, as buyers stayed away amid huge protests in the city against a proposed extradition bill, and ongoing concerns over the US-China trade war.

Only 30 out of 251 flats at Vanke Property’s Grand Le Pont sold on Sunday, while there were no takers for Henderson Land’s Novum East and only one flat sold at Novum West. Read more>>

Mapletree Sets Sights on $7B Deals in a Year

Mapletree Investments Pte may strike up to S$10 billion ($7.3 billion) of deals annually buying and selling properties as it seeks to set up more private funds over the next five years.

Mapletree is also looking at listing two real estate investment trusts that could be backed by overseas assets in student accommodation and logistics in the next four-to-five years, with a “sweet spot” for each IPO of about S$2 billion, he said. Read more>>

CDL-Linked Developer in RMB 3B Guangdong JV

Mainboard-listed First Sponsor Group has entered into a joint venture agreement with Poly Bay Area Investment Development Co (Poly Bay Area) and Shoucheng Dongguan Real Estate Co (SDRE) to jointly develop three plots of land in Guangdong, China, that wereacquired for some three billion yuan ($430 million), the Hong Leong-linked property developer announced on Monday morning.

The joint venture company (JVCo), Dongguan Baozhu Industrial Investment Co, will develop the land collectively known as Wanjiang Victory Land. Read more>>

ESR REIT Raises S$100M in Private Placement

ESR REIT will issue about 194.2 million new units under its upsized private placement to raise gross proceeds of S$100 million ($73 million), the manager of the mainboard-listed real estate investment trust (Reit) said in a bourse filing early Tuesday morning (June 18).

The joint global coordinators and bookrunners for the placement, Citigroup Global Markets Singapore and RHB Securities Singapore, closed the order book for the placement on Tuesday. Read more>>

Hostile Merger Attempt Rocks Japan’s $130B REIT Sector

Japan’s $130bn real estate investment trust market is primed for potentially major disruption in the coming days as investors await a ruling on the sector’s first ever hostile merger attempt.

Hostile moves have historically tended to fizzle in Japan, where instinctive distaste for the practice has given rise to government intervention or other blocking mechanisms. Read more>>

South Korean Exodus from London Office Deals

Some of London’s biggest office deals have been left in limbo after the latest wave of Asian money into the British capital suddenly dried up.

South Korean investors plowed £3.2 billion ($4.1 billion) into the city’s commercial property market in the year through January, a record for the nation. The sudden withdrawal of support back in South Korea by investors, who were expected to buy stakes in the London properties, has threatened deals and stuck some Korean firms with properties they can’t offload. Read more>>