Mapletree, MNACT Buy $387M Seoul Tower and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Some of Singapore’s biggest investors are upping their investments in Korea this week, at the same time that one of mainland China’s largest developer’s has decided to scale back its Australia operation after getting 20 projects started down under, as we breeze through today’s real estate headlines.

Also in the news, unitholders in a pair of CapitaLand REITs have given the go-ahead to merge the pair of commercial vehicles and China Evergrande’s shares and bonds are bouncing back after a debt scare last week shook investor confidence.

Mapletree, MNACT Team Up to Buy in Seoul Office Tower

Mapletree Investments has teamed up with Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust to purchase a half-stake each in an office building in Seoul at a KRW 452 billion ($385.69 million) valuation, according to an announcement to the Singapore stock exchange today.

The Temasek Holdings-backed real estate investor is taking a 49.95 percent stake, while its affiliated REIT will grab a 50 percent share in The Pinnacle Gangnam from a trust controlled by Korea’s IGIS Asset Management under the terms of a sale and purchase agreement for the 20-storey tower in Seoul’s Gangnam district. Read more>>

Poly Global to Scale Back Australian Operations

Property developer Poly Global is reassessing its development footprint and operations in Australia with plans to furlough up to 100 staff by the end of the year. The Shanghai-listed developer’s Australian arm, Poly Australia, now says it is set to take a more passive approach to large-scale development.

Poly Australia, which currently has upwards of 20 commercial and residential projects under development now says it will scruitinise, “all aspects of our business operations to ensure we retain our strong financial position locally.”Read more>>

CMT and CCT Merger Given Green Light

The proposed merger between CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT) and CapitaLand Commercial Trust (CCT) to create a diversified commercial REIT to be named CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT), has received a resounding yes from unitholders on September 29.

The result came after over 3,000 unitholders voted by proxy at CMT’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) and CCT’s EGM and Trust Scheme Meeting held on the same day. Read more>>

Auction of Jackie Chan’s Beijing Apartments Called Off

The auction of Hong Kong superstar Jackie Chan’s two luxurious Beijing apartments has been called off, according to China’s The Beijing News.

The auction was supposed to take place today at 10am but a check on the Chinese judicial auction site found the auction for the properties to have ‘ended’. Read more>>

China Evergrande Erases Market Losses After Debt Scare

Shares of China Evergrande Group jumped 21% Monday, and some of its bonds rose in value after the giant property developer sought to assuage investor concerns about its liquidity following a steep selloff.

Evergrande’s Hong Kong-listed shares recouped all of their losses from late last week, and investors took advantage of the company’s distressed U.S.-dollar-bond prices to scoop up the junk-rated debt. A Hong Kong-based investment firm controlled by several tycoons said early Monday that it had spent $8.6 million buying Evergrande bonds with a face value of $10 million on Friday. Read more>>

Hong Kong Apartment Rents Likely to Fall 10-15%

New Zealander Darryl Parrant was pleased when he renewed the lease on his 800 sq ft flat in Hong Kong’s affluent Mid-Levels area.

He received a 20 per cent discount and will pay HK$40,000 (US$5,128) a month for the next two years, which means saving HK$120,000 a year. Read more>>

HDB Upgraders Could Sustain Singapore Housing Momentum

There may be a broader trend of HDB upgraders recycling their public housing flats into private homes given the robust sales volumes at recent private residential projects, particularly that of Penrose.

Such sales volumes continued to be driven by Singaporeans as the key buyers, DBS Group Research wrote in a note on Tuesday while dubbing the Singapore property market “a bed of roses”. Read more>>

Tune in again soon for more real estate news and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter, or bookmark Mingtiandi’s LinkedIn page for headlines as they happen.

Note: this story had been updated to clarify that Mapletree Investments and MNACT each bought half stakes in the Pinnacle Gangnam Seoul. Mingtiandi regrets the misunderstanding.