Singapore Could See 10% Home Price Boom

Jinghong in Yunnan province offers many attractions for the refugees from Beijing’s smog

Leading today’s Asia news roundup, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley project that Singapore home prices could rise by as much as eight or ten percent in 2018, as the city-state rebounds from a nearly four-year housing slump. Also in the headlines, the world’s tallest residential tower, which is being co-developed in Manhattan by a Shanghai government-owned firm, has received a billion-dollar construction loan. And speaking of overseas projects, a Chinese construction giant is building a shopping mall in the Middle East. Read on for more details about the latest happenings in the Asian property sector.

Singapore Home Prices To Surge Up to 10%, Says Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse Group and Morgan Stanley are calling the end of Singapore’s property downturn, after a second consecutive quarterly increase in private residential prices.

Home prices may rise as much as 10 per cent this year, according to analysts at Credit Suisse, while Morgan Stanley and OCBC Investment Research expect as much as an 8 per cent increase, according to reports from the brokerage firms. Read more>>

GLP Sets January Date for Singapore De-Listing

Global Logistic Properties on Wednesday announced that it will be delisting from the Singapore Exchange on January 22. A consortium of Chinese investors in July offered to buy the warehouse operator for almost $12 billion.

Nesta Investment Holdings — a vehicle owned by HOPU Logistics Investment Management, Hillhouse Capital Logistics Management, SMG Eastern, Bank of China Group Investment and Vanke Real Estate (Hong Kong) — will acquire all of the issued and paid-up ordinary share capital of GLP. Read more>>

SMI Partner Closes on $1.1B Construction Loan for Central Park Tower

Extell Development Co closed on a $1.1 billion construction loan for Central Park Tower on December 29, 2017. The financing package comprised a $900 million senior construction loan syndication led by J.P. Morgan and a $235 million preferred equity loan from a hedge fund.

Situated on 57th Street, the 1,550-foot Central Park Tower will be the tallest residential building in the world. Designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the building will feature 179 residences, stratospheric views and a full-service amenity package, as well as a seven-story, 300,000-square-foot Nordstrom department store. Extell is co-developing Central Park Tower with SMI USA, the US subsidiary of Shanghai Municipal Investment. Read more>>

Citi Sees Top Chinese Developers Gobbling Up Market Share

China’s large developers are tightening their hold on the country’s real estate market, capturing an ever-larger share even as sales growth is expected to slow and worries about debt persist.

According to the US. investment bank Citi, the top 10 China developers are forecast to achieve close to 35 percent market share this year, up from around 27 percent now. They held just 14.2 percent of the market in 2012. Read more>>

China’s Tropical Retreats Draw Refugees from Urban Airpocalypse

A small but telling band of jaded Chinese urbanites are seeking to outrun the hustle and bustle of their country’s big smoke. Some are permanently moving to China’s comparatively peaceful and preserved periphery, putting down roots in places such as Yunnan or Hainan, a tropical outpost in the South China Sea.

“Stocks and futures!” Ji chuckled when asked how he made a living in his new home. Others are seasonal migrants – so-called “smog refugees” or elderly “migratory birds” – who take extended annual breaks to avoid the worst of the winter weather. Read more>>

China’s CSCEC To Build $136M Mall in UAE

Ajman Holding on Tuesday said it has signed an agreement with China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) Middle East to build Mirkaaz, a new shopping destination in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) valued at AED500 million ($136 million).

The mall, which is expected to attract over one million visitors a year with more than 100 shops, will also feature international restaurants, a cinema, a family entertainment area, botanical gardens, a health and fitness centre, and a hypermarket. Read more>>

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