Sasseur REIT Shares Plunge on China Mall Closures and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Closures lead the way in Mingtiandi’s roundup of Asia real estate headlines today with the news that shares in a Singapore-listed REIT plunged ten percent after announcing it had closed all four of its retail malls in China.

In other news around the region, a rush of Hong Kong buyers push up home prices in the Greater Bay Area, while other Singapore companies close business lines in response to restrictions imposed by Beijing to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Elsewhere, a Bangalore-based developer is in talks to raise up to $400 million prior to a REIT listing next year.

Sasseur REIT Shares Plunge 10% on Mall Closures

Sasseur REIT has temporarily closed all four retail outlet malls in its portfolio in response to the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus that has infected more than 2,800 people and killed at least 80. The REIT manager on Tuesday announced that sponsor Sasseur Cayman Holding has implemented the temporary closure of the four outlet malls owned by Sasseur REIT in Chongqing, Bishan, Hefei and Kunming.

The Chongqing and Bishan outlet malls have been temporarily closed from Jan 26, while the Hefei and Kunming outlet malls have been temporarily closed from Jan 27.
Seven other outlet malls owned or managed by the sponsor in China have also been progressively closed since Jan 26. Read more>>

HK and Singapore Wade into Aussie Property Investment as Mainland China Retreats

Mainland China’s investment in commercial real estate in Australia fell off a cliff after peaking in 2015 but other Asian investors have been quick to fill the void as the flow of capital from Hong Kong and Singapore soars to record levels.

After China introduced its capital controls policy that put a limit on outbound investment in 2016, the country’s flow of capital into commercial real estate has dwindled from almost A$4 billion in 2015 to just A$225.8 million last year.

Over the same period the amount of money invested by Hong Kong increased from $465.6 million to almost $2.1 billion last year. Read more>>

CapitaLand, Other Singapore Companies Suspend China Businesses

Property giant CapitaLand and more Singapore-listed companies announced temporary closures of businesses in China as the coronavirus death toll and number of infections there continue to rise. CapitaLand has closed all four of its malls in Wuhan, where the virus outbreak originated, and both of its malls in Xi’an, as required by the respective local authorities.

Its supermarkets in CapitaMall Westgate, Wuhan and CapitaMall Xindicheng, Xi’an remain open to ensure the supply of food and daily essentials to the local communities. The six CapitaLand malls in Wuhan and Xi’an will reopen when local conditions permit. Read more>>

Nippon Life to Double Cross-Border Real Estate, Infrastructure Investment by 2021

Nippon Life Insurance Co, Japan’s largest private life insurer, plans to double its investment in foreign real estate and infrastructure by early next year, its top investment official told Reuters on Tuesday.

The move came amid growing expectation that low interest rates in Japan and other developed countries are likely to stay for a long time and therefore the insurer will need a new source of income. Read more>>

Investors Embrace Co-living in Asia’s Megacities

Shared spaces are beginning to look crowded. Even after last year’s meltdown of WeWork, investors are piling into co-living and co-working companies. Sequoia last year selected Rukita, a co-living company based in Jakarta, as one of the first recipients of money from its Surge programme, which provides funding for start-ups in India and south-east Asia. Warburg Pincus has invested in three ventures in mainland China and one in Hong Kong, alongside partners including General Atlantic, Singapore’s GIC and Tencent.

“Co-living is a much better business model than co-working, just as long as it doesn’t come with a WeWork kind of valuation,” said John Riady, a third-generation member of the family that controls Indonesia’s Lippo group. The conglomerate has invested in Cove, a co-living firm in Singapore. Read more>>

India’s Prestige Group to Raise Up to $400M Before REIT Listing

Real estate firm Prestige Group is in talks with up to three large investors to raise between $300 and 400 million by monetising some of its retail mall and office assets, before listing a real estate investment trust (REIT) in a year or so.

The fundraising will help the Bangalore-based developer in not only reducing its debt levels but the investor partner may acquire a stake in the rental portfolio and then become an anchor investor, when Prestige eventually aims to list a REIT, the company’s management told analysts in a post-earnings call. Read more>>

Hong Kong Buyers Push Up Greater Bay Home Prices as Ownership Rules Eased

China may have fueled a housing boom in the Greater Bay Area with easier ownership rules, as buyers from Hong Kong joined the rush to send home prices in some cities to record highs, according to data from Centaline Property.

An index tracking prices of new and used homes in Shenzhen rose for a fifth straight month in December to cap a 9.4 percent rally in 2019, according to Centaline Property. Prices climbed 10.5 percent in Foshan and 7.4 percent in Huizhou. Read more>>

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

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