Evergrande Founder’s Assets Turned Over to Receivers and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

China Evergrande is back in the news with a report of a Hong Kong court granting receivers rights over the company founder’s assets, with that story leading today’s look at real estate headlines from around the region. Also making the list are one of Japan’s largest institutional investors and a Hillhouse-backed Japanese investment platform.

Hong Kong Court Orders Evergrande Founder’s Assets Turned Over to Receivers

China Evergrande’s liquidators have been appointed to identify and preserve the assets of founder Xu Jiayin, the Hong Kong High Court said in a ruling on Tuesday. Xu, once one of China’s richest people, has not been seen in public since he was detained by Chinese authorities in 2023 and has not complied with a court order to disclose his assets in Hong Kong and overseas.

Evergrande, the most high-profile casualty of China’s prolonged property crisis, began defaulting on some of its bonds in 2021 and collapsed with more than $300 billion in liabilities. Read more>>

Japan’s GPIF Picking Fund Managers for Domestic Alternative Assets

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund is picking domestic alternative asset funds on its own for the first time, putting its cash in real estate and infrastructure such as data centres.

The retirement fund that’s one of the world’s largest will invest JPY 50 billion ($340 million) in total, comprising JPY 40 billion for an infrastructure fund and JPY 10 billion for real estate, according to documents recently published by GPIF. That’s a shift from its previous practice of entrusting asset managers to choose domestic alternative funds on its behalf. Read more>>

Rava’s Samty Buys Yokohama Apartments for $5M

Samty Residential Investment Corporation announced to the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Tuesday that it has decided to acquire a Yokohama apartment building for JPY 730 million ($5 million).

The company controlled by Hillhouse Investment’s Rava Partners unit is acquiring S-Residence Yokohama Yoshinocho as part of a plan to build a stable residential portfolio, with the property measuring more than 1,000 square metres (10,764 square feet) across 40 units. Read more>>

EdgeConnex Partners With Stockland for Australia Expansion

Data centre operator EdgeConneX has partnered with Australian real estate player Stockland, with the companies forming an exclusive arrangement to develop, own and operate a data centre portfolio and “exploring opportunities across Stockland’s logistics pipeline.”

The 50:50 joint venture will combine “Stockland’s land, development and project management expertise with EdgeConneX’s technical capabilities and hyperscaler relationships,” according to the ASX-listed company’s earnings results announcement. Further discussions with hyperscalers will determine the ultimate size of the vehicle. Read more>>

India’s Raheja Buys Back Mumbai Headquarters for $24M

Realty developer Raheja Universal has re-acquired its corporate headquarters, Raheja Centre-Point on CST Road near Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex business district, for INR 2.1 billion ($24 million).

Originally developed by Raheja Universal in 2004, the five-storey commercial building housed the company’s headquarters for 16 years before being sold to HDFC in 2020. The sale at that time was part of a wider portfolio realignment strategy. Read more>>

Hong Kong Property Association Pleads for $2.6B Market Support Fund

A real estate industry association in Hong Kong is urging the government to set up a HK$20 billion ($2.6 billion) fund to invest in distressed properties to help prevent systemic financial risks.

Hong Kong’s commercial real estate slump is causing a surge in non-performing loans, forced asset sales and liquidity challenges for developers and investors, a representative of the Hong Kong and International Chapter of the China Real Estate Chamber of Commerce said in an interview with Bloomberg. If the situation continues, it will threaten Hong Kong’s standing as an international financial centre, the association said. Read more>>

Mainland Developer Kaisa Implements $13.4B Debt Restructuring Plan

Shares of Kaisa Group surged Tuesday after the embattled Chinese developer said its long-delayed offshore debt restructuring had formally taken effect, marking a milestone for one of the most indebted property firms in China.

Kaisa said all restructuring conditions were satisfied and the effective date occurred on 15 September, according to a stock filing. The plan involves discharging existing claims in exchange for new notes and mandatorily convertible bonds worth a combined $13.4 billion, which are to be listed on the Singapore Exchange from 16 September. Read more>>

Japan Land Prices Rise at Fastest Pace Since 1992

The average overall price of land in Japan as of 1 July was up 1.5 percent from a year earlier, marking the sharpest growth since 1992, boosted by solid housing demand and inbound tourism, government data showed Tuesday.

The price climbed for the fourth straight year, also lifted by robust investment demand from overseas on the back of the weak yen. Commercial land prices gained 2.8 percent with launches of new hotels and stores in urban areas amid a surge in foreign tourists. Read more>>

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