Clementi Residential Site Tender Launched in Singapore and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Singapore land sales lead this edition of Mingtiandi’s headline roundup, with the government launching a tender for a residential site in the city-state’s western region. Also in the news, China Evergrande’s embattled founder is said to be detained in Shenzhen and Australia’s Investa markets a half-stake in a Sydney office building.

Singapore Launches Tender for Clementi Residential Site

Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority on Thursday released a Faber Walk residential site in Clementi for sale under the second half of the 2024 government land sales programme.

Analysts reckoned that developers will remain conservative in bidding for the site, as with recent tender exercises, given the market saturation as private housing supply ramps up. Read more>>

Evergrande Chairman Held at Shenzhen Detention Centre

Xu Jiayin, the chairman of China Evergrande Group — the company at the centre of the country’s property sector crisis — has been moved to a special detention centre in Shenzhen, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Xu, 65, has not been seen in public since he was taken away by Chinese authorities a year ago and his current whereabouts have not been previously reported. Read more>>

Australia’s Investa Puts Sydney Office Stake on the Market

Investa Property Group’s flagship office fund will bring a half-stake in 135 King Street to market as the top end of Sydney’s office market wins over big investors.

The interest is being offered by the Investa Commercial Property Fund, which is looking to bring in a partner on the more than A$650 million ($436.5 million) building that also includes a major retail centre. While the office market has undergone a harsh reset across Sydney, tenants are now chasing top-end space and capital is also focusing on this premium end of the market. Read more>>

Malaysian Developer IOI Plans More Industrial Parks

Malaysia’s IOI Properties Group is set to launch its IOI Industrial Park at Banting in Selangor by the second quarter of next year and is planning another park in Melaka that is expected to be launched two quarters later.

This means the group will have three industrial parks by the end of 2025, as it has an existing industrial park in Johor, which it targets to contribute up to 20 percent of the group’s annual revenue. Read more>>

Indian Tycoon Buys $28M Home in London’s Notting Hill

An Indian tycoon behind an apparel empire has just paid £21 million ($27.6 million) for a home in London’s Notting Hill district, marking one of the year’s biggest UK residential deals and defying a wider slowdown in luxury sales.

Harish Ahuja, who owns and runs Shahi Exports, bought the eight-storey residential convent in July, according to a UK filing. Read more>>

Hong Kong Housing Society Secures $1.5B Syndicated Loan

The Hong Kong Housing Society, a major public housing provider of the city, has signed a $1.5 billion syndicated loan with 12 local and international banks, the non-governmental organisation said Thursday.

The largest deal of its kind for the organisation, the five-year term and revolving loan facilities include a HK$3 billion ($380 million) social tranche, HKHS said. The loan’s overall pricing is 86 basis points above the Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate, a local lending benchmark. Read more>>

Hong Kong Developers Encouraged by Rate Cut Prospects

The Hong Kong housing market is poised to see more deals once the US starts cutting rates, but the outlook for an immediate rally in prices may still be clouded by slower economic momentum. Developers’ inventory stood at nearly 22,000 units at the end of last month, with 14,400 earmarked for sale yet to be put on the market, according to Midland Realty research.

Midland expects primary-market deals to rebound past the 1,000 mark this month as many projects are up for sale at low prices. Double Coast in Kai Tak, developed by Wheelock Properties, Henderson Land, China Overseas Land & Investment and New World, will offer 1,590 units this month. Read more>>

Mainland Companies Buying More Hong Kong Properties

As Hong Kong’s commercial property slump drags on, Chinese state money has emerged as one of the few pillars of support.

Chinese firms have become active buyers in the city’s flailing real estate market, snapping up shopping malls and offices as local and international investors pull back. While deal sizes are smaller than during Hong Kong’s heyday six years ago, the purchases underscore the financial hub’s ever-increasing reliance on Chinese money. Read more>>

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