The ex-wife of Hui Ka Yan, China Evergrande founder, files a lawsuit against his second son over $128 million, with that story leading Mingtiandi’s headline roundup today. Also making the list, Hong Kong’s beleaguered property industry is hoping that relief is on the way as financial secretary Paul Chan prepares to the release the city’s new budget this week and Singapore’s secondary housing market saw prices drop in January after five straight months of increases.
Evergrande Founder’s Ex-Wife Sues Son Over $128M in Loans
The ex-wife of China Evergrande Group founder Xu Jiayin has filed a lawsuit against her son over HK$1 billion ($128 million) in loan payments, the latest twist in the slow unraveling of the property giant.
The lawsuit was filed in Hong Kong by Ding Yumei, who was listed Xu’s spouse until August. The ex-Mrs Xu claims that the defendant Peter Xu, who is the son of the one-time mainland power couple, failed to make payments for funds borrowed in June 2020, according to court filings. Peter Xu has been in custody since last year allegedly over irregularities in the operations of the company’s wealth management unit under his supervision. Read more>>
Hong Kong Budget Expected to Include Rollback of Housing Market Restrictions
Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan will look this week to cement the city’s tentative economic recovery and burnish its image as a global financial centre while reining in the fiscal deficit.
Chan is expected to ease curbs on property transactions and announce moves to lift tourism and attract investment inflows into local capital markets when he unveils the city’s budget Wednesday, according to analysts and economists. They see cash handouts as unlikely this year, citing budget constraints. Read more>>
Singapore Condo Resale Prices Fell 0.8% in January After Five-Month Climb
Condominium resale prices dipped in January after rising for five consecutive months, but property analysts said it’s too early to determine if prices are stabilising.
Resale prices declined 0.8 percent in January, reversing the 0.5 percent climb in December, flash data from real estate portals Singapore Real Estate Exchange and 99.co showed on Monday. Read more>>
Owners of Singapore Condo Complex Cut Price in Fresh Attempt at Collective Sale
Thomson View Condominium has been put up for collective sale again – this time at a lower reserve price of S$918 million ($683 million), as opposed to the S$950 million price tag pegged to relaunches in 2022 and the year before.
On Tuesday, Thomson View’s latest exclusive marketing agent Edmund Tie said authorities have advised no objection, in principle, to redeveloping the site such that it would yield 1,240 residential units based on an average apartment size of 85 square metres (914 square feet). Read more>>
Nomura REIT Buys Ishikawa Office for $13.9M
TSE-listed Nomura Real Estate Master Fund will acquire a hotel in Ishikawa prefecture from an unrelated local vehicle for JPY 2.1 billion ($13.9 million).
The office-specialised REIT has agreed to purchase the Hotel Wing International Premium Kanazawa Ekimae as the trust’s manager sees a rebound in Japanese tourism. Post-acquisition, the real estate subsidiary of Dai-Ichi Life Insurance will take over property management operations at the hotel. Read more>>
China Oceanwide Abandons Plans for Atlantis Resort in Hawaii
The proposed multi-billion-dollar Atlantis resort in Hawaii shows no signs of life after the company entrusted to build it went into liquidation last month, according to a filing on the Hong Kong exchange.
That company, Chinese developer Oceanwide, entered into an agreement in 2016 with Atlantis brand owner and operator Kerzner to build the Atlantis Ko Olina. Read more>>
Australia’s Pacific National Signs for Two Floors at Keppel REIT’s 2 Blue Street
Pacific National, the largest private rail freight company in Australia, has signed for two floors at 2 Blue Street, a 10-storey office building in North Sydney.
The building formerly known as Blue & William is owned by Singapore-listed Keppel REIT, which purchased the asset in December 2021 while it was under development. Pacific National will occupy 3,350 square metres (36,059 square feet) across the first and second floors of the Grade A office building, which achieved practical completion in April 2023. It was developed by Lendlease, which also manages the building. Read more>>
Restructuring Specialists Boost Hong Kong Staff as China Crisis Stokes Demand
Global restructuring specialists Alvarez & Marsal and Houlihan Lokey have boosted headcount in Hong Kong as China’s property crisis results in a surge in debt restructuring deals — making them a rare bright spot in hiring for the city’s financial sector.
China’s property industry, a key pillar of the world’s second-largest economy, has lurched from one crisis to another since 2021 after a regulatory crackdown on debt-fuelled construction triggered a liquidity squeeze. 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.
Leave a Reply