Mapletree Said to Prepare $1.2 Billion IPO of Property Assets — and more of today’s China Real Estate Links | January 31, 2013

Here is a list of the day’s latest China real estate news collected from around the web:

• Mapletree Said to Prepare $1.2 Billion IPO of Property Assets

  Mapletree Investments Pte plans to raise more than S$1.5 billion ($1.2 billion) through the initial public offering of a real estate investment trust backed by assets in Hong Kong and China, said two people with knowledge of the matter.
  Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust may start trading in Singapore in March and will include the Festival Walk shopping mall in Hong Kong and Gateway Plaza office complex in Beijing, said the people, who asked not to be be identified as the information is private.

• Hilton explores Chinese market with smart luxury

  The fast growing Chinese market is attracting the world’s top hotels for expansion.

  However, real estate control polices increase uncertainty about the future of investment in commercial real estate. Added with fatigued consumption power, the world’s top hotel operator Hilton Group is trying to explore the Chinese market with a “smart luxury” idea instead of its traditional idea that “rarity is precious.”

• Poly Real Estate Sales Reached RMB 101 Bil in 2013

  Last year saw state-backed Poly Real Estate Group Co. Ltd. join an elite club.
  The Shanghai-listed company had contract sales of 101.7 billion yuan, making it the nation’s third developer to top the 100 billion yuan mark.  China Vanke Co. Ltd. remained housing king with sales of 141.2 billion yuan, a report by China Real Estate Information Corp. (CRIC) and non-profit organization China Real Estate Appraisal said. Shanghai-based Greenland Group was second at 107.8 billion yuan.

• Treasury China Trust portfolio rises to €1.5bn

  Treasury China Trust, the Singapore-listed company in which former Treasury Holdings owners Richard Barrett and Johnny Ronan are significant shareholders, said the total value of its China real-estate portfolio rose 4.8 per cent to 12.6 billion (€1.5 billion) in 2012.

  “The 4.8 per cent rise continues the logic of being invested in commercial real estate here, particularly with Shanghai as your fortress. There were strong occupancy rates across the portfolio, and rent growth through expiring leases is very good,” said Richard David, chief executive of TCT.

• Property prices set to rise as supply tightens

  China’s property prices will continue to rise in 2013, fueled by tighter supply, quickening urbanization and an improved economy, according to the latest report on the market.

  Figures from REICO, the research institution jointly created by the China Real Estate Chamber of Commerce and the China Urban Reality Association Fund, suggest the country’s housing inventory will be lower than that of 2012, due to a slide in new construction since the third quarter of 2011 and quickening sales last year.

• Luxury property prices and rents remain strong in Chinese cities

  Luxury residential markets in major mainland cities in China performed well at the end of last year with both prices and rents rising steadily in the fourth quarter of 2012.
  But sales slowed with volumes in Beijing and Shanghai dropping from the heady highs of previous quarters, according to Knight Frank’s latest Greater China property market report.

  It also says that developers in Shanghai and Guangzhou were active in launching new luxury homes, hoping to meet annual sales targets.

This list is updated daily, so tune in again tomorrow for more up to date information, or subscribe to our daily email news digest to get this delivered to your mailbox.