Mainland China has seen its housing industry stall this year
Mainland China’s ongoing housing crisis leads the real estate news from around the region today as government statistics show home prices declining at the swiftest rate in nearly nine years. Also in the news, the Hong Kong government is accusing two of the city’s largest property agencies of price fixing and a Shanghai government developer is suing a Suzhou state-owned steel maker over some dirtier than expected land.
China Home Prices Fell for Fourth Straight Month
Home prices in major Chinese cities fell for the fourth straight month in October, recording the steepest drop in nearly nine years, as demand continues to slump despite measures to support the market.
Prices of new homes in 70 medium and large cities fell 0.4 percent month on month, the most since a 0.5 percent decline in February 2015, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday. Prices fell 0.3 percent in September. Read more>>
Hong Kong Govt Accuses Property Agencies of Price Fixing
Hong Kong’s antitrust watchdog is taking legal action against one of the city’s two property agency giants for allegedly fixing sales commissions in an unprecedented action against the industry.
The Competition Commission on Tuesday accused Midland Holdings and two subsidiaries of directing agents to charge a minimum net commission rate of 2 percent for first-hand residential properties starting on 1 January. Read more>>
Shanghai’s Lujiazui Group Sues Over Polluted Suzhou Site
State-owned Chinese developer Lujiazui Corp has vowed to safeguard the interests of its shareholders as it seeks more than RMB 10 billion ($1.37 billion) in compensation for what it claims is a heavily polluted land parcel in Suzhou, west of Shanghai.
The company, officially known as Shanghai Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone Development, said in an exchange filing on Monday that a lawsuit it filed nine days ago in higher court would reveal the truth and minimise financial losses. It also said that its business operations remain normal. Read more>>
Boustead Singapore Sweetens Buyout Offer for Boustead Projects
Boustead Singapore proposed an unconditional cash exit offer for its real estate unit at S$1.18 ($0.87) per share. This is 23.6 percent higher than Boustead Projects’ last-traded price of S$0.955 prior to its trading suspension.
It also represented a 24.2 percent increase from the previous voluntary unconditional general offer of S$0.95 per share, which closed at 5:30 pm on 27 March, 2023. The exit offer price is 20 times Boustead Projects’ consolidated earnings per share for its last financial year. Read more>>
Swire Kicks Off Construction on Xi’An Taikoo Li Project
Swire Properties (1972) has commenced construction of its fourth Taikoo Li project at Xian in Central China, with an estimated investment of RMB 10 billion ($1.3 billion).
The project lies next to the Small Wild Goose Pagoda built during the Tang Dynasty and will be the Hong Kong developer’s largest Taikoo Li project in China, with an estimated gross floor area of 256,192 square metres (2,757,627 square feet). Taikoo Li Xi’an will comprise a shopping mall, cultural facilities and a luxury House Collective hotel. Read more>>
China Fortune Land to Set Up $3.5B Trust Fund to Help Pay Debt
China Fortune Land Development will set up a trust fund worth about RMB 25.5 billion ($3.5 billion) and use the proceeds to pay off its $3.33 billion in financial debts, it said Friday.
The move is part of a debt restructuring plan unveiled in October 2021, with the debt-ridden developer seeking various ways to ease a liquidity crunch. Read more>>
Genting Singapore Soars Most in Three Years on Earnings Beat
Genting Singapore jumped the most in more than three years after the casino operator posted better-than-expected third-quarter earnings, underscoring a recovery in tourism in Singapore.
The shares climbed as much as 12 percent, their biggest gain since March 2020, and putting them among the best performers on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. The advance helped narrow the stock’s year-to-date loss to just 2.6 percent. Read more>>
Actis to Invest $2.5B in India Energy, Warehouse Projects
Actis plans to invest up to $2.5 billion in India over the next four years, targeting sustainable infrastructure opportunities in energy transition, digital infrastructure, and logistics and warehousing.
The focus will primarily be on the energy sector, where Actis is a major investor in renewable energy, building large utility-scale power plants. Bluepine Energy, Actis’ third renewable energy platform in India, is currently under development. The commercial and industrial segment of the renewable energy sector, along with data centres and industrial warehousing, is also in the investment scope. Read more>>
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