New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern is curbing the enthusiasm of foreign buyers
Chinese leaders have been easing credit this past month and the results may be appearing quickly in rebounding home prices and property investment in smaller cities. But this positive market sentiment could still be bad news for a mainland government trying to ensure housing affordability.
Also in the headlines today, New Zealand decides that foreign home buyers may love their islands too much and the new bridge from Zhuhai to Hong Kong could be good news for Macau home owners. Read on for all these stories and more.
Mainland Housing Boom Brings New Govt Worries
China’s booming housing market has been a rare bright spot of late as the broader economy cools, but there are signs of trouble beneath the surface.
Housing sales, property investment and new construction all picked up pace in July, according to data released this week, ostensibly good news for the real-estate sector, which accounts for a third of China’s economy.
But there is a growing consensus in government that rapidly escalating prices are cause for worry. The average growth of home prices in 70 cities increased 6.6% in July from a year earlier, accelerating from 5.8% the month before. Read more>>
New Zealand Locks Out Foreign Home Buyers
New Zealand has lured Asian billionaires, Hollywood filmmakers, and tech entrepreneurs with a liberal immigration policy and light regulation of foreign property purchases. Now, as it tries to cool one of the world’s hottest housing markets, the country is banning foreigners from buying existing homes.
The Parliament approved the new restriction Wednesday, fulfilling a promise that helped Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Labour party win power last year after campaigning against inequality and homelessness. Read more>>
SG Home Sales Spiked in July in Rush to Beat Stamp Duties
Developers sold 1,724 private homes last month, about 2.6 times the 654 units they moved in June and up 55 per cent from the 1,112 units they sold in July 2017.
These figures were released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Wednesday (Aug 15), based on its survey of licensed housing developers. The figures exclude executive condominium (EC) units, which are a public-private housing hybrid. Read more>>
HK-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Expected to Boost Macau Home Prices
The opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge later this year could further narrow the gap between Hong Kong and Macau house prices, both of which recently rose to an all-time high, according to property experts.
Raymond Kwok, associate director at Guo Du Real Estate, said that once vehicles start crossing the bridge the residential property market in Macau could experience growth of anywhere between 5 per cent and 10 per cent. Retail property prices could increase by 30 per cent to a half. Read more>>
Oceanwide, Genworth Extend Deadline on Buyout Deal
The Chinese company trying to acquire Genworth Financial Inc. has agreed to extend the deal completion deadline and update the deal terms, Genworth said today.
Genworth and China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co. Ltd. have agreed to extend the deadline to Dec. 1, from the previous deadline of Aug. 15. The deadline extension is the sixth the companies have negotiated since they first announced the $2.7 billion deal, in October 2016. Read more>>
Edelweiss Buying Pair of Indian Real Estate PE Funds
Edelweiss Alternative Asset Advisors Limited (EAAA), the alternatives asset management arm of Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd, on Monday, announced that it will be acquiring two funds from Milestone Capital Advisors Ltd – Milestone Opportunities Fund 10 and Milestone Commercial Advantage Fund.
Both funds are Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) registered Category II alternative investment funds with combined assets under management of over Rs 150 crore. 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.
Leave a Reply