Toronto may have become too much of a favorite among Chinese buyers
Leading the news today, the rolling ball of Chinese hot money may need a new target soon after the Canadian province of Ontario followed the lead of Vancouver, Singapore and Hong Kong in placing a 15 percent duty on foreign buyers of local homes. Also in the headlines, China may dash the hopes of Korean casino builders and Australia’s richest man says he’s never heard of the Chinese developer of an A$3 billion gaming palace near Brisbane. Read on for all these stories and more.
Ontario Follows Vancouver With 15% Tax on Foreign Buyers
The Toronto housing market will get a new tax to fend off speculators and expanded rent-hike protection as Ontario attempts to slow record home-price growth.
Ontario officials announced a slew of measures on Thursday for Toronto and surrounding areas meant to control what some economists, investors and policy makers call a price bubble that’s putting the broader economy at risk. Read more>>
China Sanctions Crush Korean Casino Hopes
Northeast Asia’s first Las Vegas-style casino resort opened here on Thursday, but to widespread concern about whether the South Korean gambling venue—six years in the making—will become the latest victim of Chinese retribution.
Paradise City, a glitzy $1.1 billion casino, hotel and conference complex, sits a short stroll away from South Korea’s main international airport. It was conceived as a venue mainly for Chinese high-rollers from the northeast of the country, in the same way that Macau has become a gambling mecca for those who live in southern China. Read more>>
Packer Denies Links to Chinese Developer of A$3B Gold Coast Casino
Claims by the China-backed developer of a proposed $3 billion casino resort on the Gold Coast’s Southport Spit that it is in partnership with the nation’s biggest casino operator have been rejected by James Packer’s Crown Resorts.
ASX-listed ASF Group, whose wholly owned subsidiary ASF Consortium is in exclusive negotiations with the Queensland government to deliver the casino development, had suggested Crown was a “consortium partner” in the project. Read more>>
Singapore’s URA to Sell Off Two More Residential Sites
Two private residential sites at Stirling Road and Lorong 1 Realty Park were launched for sale by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Thursday (April 20).
The 99-year leasehold sites together can potentially yield about 1,160 residential units.
The land parcel at Stirling Road in Queenstown was triggered for sale after a developer committed to bid at no less than S$685.25 million. That bid translates to S$718 per square foot per plot ratio based on the site’s maximum gross floor area of 88,660 square metres. Read more>>
Hong Kong Investor Buys DC Area Resort for $133M
Lansdowne Resort changed hands earlier this month in a quiet sale to a foreign investor.
Bethesda-based real estate investment trust LaSalle Hotel Properties announced in early April it sold the 296 newly renovated-room resort for $133 million.
A week later, Chicago-based real estate and investment management company JLL said it helped arrange the sale of Lansdowne Resort on LaSalle Hotel Properties’ behalf to Dejia LLC, “a first-time U.S. hotel investor.” Read more>>
HK$4 Bil Homes Now Attracting 18-Year-Old Buyers in Tuen Mun
Sun Hung Kai Properties’ sale of a mass residential project in Tuen Mun has attracted large numbers of prospective buyers with the youngest being 18, just old enough to sign a legal contract for a flat purchase, according to agents.
The project attracted more than 2,500 prospective buyers when the first batch of 118 units at Eight Regency went on sale at 7pm on Thursday. Read more>>
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