China’s ailing housing market may need more support
More China gloom leads today’s roundup of real estate headlines from across Asia Pacific, as Goldman Sachs points to a need for more government support for the mainland’s ailing market. Also in the news, AirTrunk hypes its second Malaysia data centre and office space in Hong Kong’s The Centre is now available at more than a third off the 2018 price.
Goldman Sachs Says China Market Needs More Support
China’s policy easing since September has been “more effective” than past interventions to stabilise the struggling property market, but “structural divergences” mean additional support measures are needed for a sustained recovery, according to Goldman Sachs.
“Compared to earlier episodes, the ongoing policy easing appears more effective in boosting home sales and stabilising prices, despite limited impact on property investment and other construction-related property activity,” the US investment bank said in a report on Tuesday. Read more>>
AirTrunk Updates Plans for Second Malaysia Data Centre
AirTrunk has announced plans to develop its second data centre in Malaysia, in Iskandar Puteri, Johor. Scalable to over 270 megawatts, the JHB2 project is expected to support demand from global public cloud and technology companies in the region.
AirTrunk founder and CEO, Robin Khuda first announced the project in July last year with the company now expecting its two Malaysia projects, which include the 150 megawatt JHB1 facility, to involve investment of A$3.5 billion ($2.2 billion) in Malaysia for a yield of 420MW of IT load. Read more>>
Office Units in Hong Kong’s The Center on Market at 34% Off 2018 Price
Hong Kong investors continue to offload property assets at discounts amid high interest rates, and consultants expect more financially stressed owners will be forced into the same position in coming months.
The family of minibus tycoon Ma Ah-muk is selling the 45th and 27th floors of The Center, a 73-storey skyscraper in Hong Kong’s Central business district that was once the most expensive in the world. Read more>>
Government Said Mulling $6.8B Bailout of China Vanke
Chinese authorities are working on a proposal to help China Vanke plug a funding gap of about RMB 50 billion ($6.8 billion) this year, according to people familiar with the matter, highlighting the government support for the distressed developer.
Under the plan, regulators would allocate 20 billion yuan of special local government bond quota for the purchase of unsold properties and vacant land from Vanke, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing private information. The money would enable the Shenzhen-based developer to pay public and private debt due this year, the people added. Read more>>
HSBC Cuts Mortgage Rates as Deals Slide
Hong Kong’s largest banks are likely to offer new mortgages to ease the burden on homebuyers amid elevated interest rates, but experts doubt that the trend would overcome the factors weighing down the struggling property market.
HSBC, one of the city’s three currency-issuing lenders, unveiled on Wednesday new mortgage plans offering a fixed rate of 3.18 percent for the first three years, or 3.03 percent for the first five years. In both cases, the rate for subsequent years is the prime interest rate minus 1.75 percent. The bank had offered fixed-rate plans at 3.25 percent for three years or 3.15 percent for five years starting in September. Read more>>
Centuria Capital Buys Queensland Shopping Centre for $72M
Real estate funds manager Centuria Capital Group has snapped up the Logan Supercentre in south-east Queensland for A$115 million ($72 million) in a sign of the heat in the large format retail market.
The 27,000 square metre two-storey asset is Centuria’s largest such transaction this financial year, and one the company had kept a close eye on for quite some time, said co-chief executive Jason Huljich. The centre was sold by the listed HomeCo Daily Needs REIT in a deal brokered by CBRE’s Simon Rooney. Read more>>
I Squared Said Eyeing DigitalBridge SE Asia Towers
I Squared Capital is considering buying some of the assets of DigitalBridge Group Inc.’s Southeast Asian telecom tower operator, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
DigitalBridge had been evaluating a potential full sale of the company, Singapore-based EdgePoint Infrastructure, but was unable to reach an agreement with I Squared on valuation, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations were private. Read more>>
Poly, Jinmao Win Beijing Residential Site for $1.2B
Poly Development and Holdings Group and China Jinmao Holdings Group have secured a land plot package in the center of Beijing for over RMB 8.7 billion (US$1.2 billion).
The two Chinese state-owned property developers yesterday won the action for the land parcels in Chaoyang district after about one hundred rounds of bidding at a premium rate of 10.5 percent, resulting in an estimated floor price of RMB 52,000 (US$7,115) per square metre. Read more>>
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