Singapore Private Home Prices Rise Most Since 2018 and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, Singapore’s surging home prices stoke fears of government intervention, Causeway Bay cedes its title of APAC’s most expensive shop location to another Hong Kong district, and private equity major Blackstone’s market value tops $100 billion on strong first-quarter earnings.

Singapore Private Home Prices Rise Most Since 2018

Singapore’s property frenzy continued last quarter as home prices grew more than expected, fuelling concerns that authorities may step in to cool the market.

Private property values increased 3.3 percent in the three months through March, the Urban Redevelopment Authority said on Friday. That’s higher than the preliminary estimate of 2.9 percent and the biggest gain since the second quarter of 2018. Read more>>

Tsim Sha Tsui Overtakes Causeway Bay as APAC’s Priciest Shop Location

Hong Kong’s Canton Road has overtaken Russell Street as the most expensive place to rent a shop in the Asia Pacific region for the first time, according to a survey by Cushman & Wakefield.

The street in Tsim Sha Tsui ended 2020 at HK$944 ($122) per square foot per month, 35 percent lower than a year earlier, while rents in Causeway Bay’s Russell Street were down 43 percent at HK$870, said the Asia-Pacific Main Streets Report. Read more>>

Warburg Buys HDFC’s Stake in Indian Student Housing Startup Good Host

Baskin Lake Investment, an affiliate of Warburg Pincus, has acquired mortgage financier HDFC’s 24.48 percent stake for INR 216.18 crore ($29 million) in Goldman Sachs-backed student housing startup Good Host Spaces.

Baskin Lake, which has become a significant shareholder in the company through the acquisition, and existing shareholder Goldman Sachs will also support the future growth of Good Host by investing additional capital. Read more>>

Blackstone’s First-Quarter Earnings Surge on Asset Disposals

Blackstone Group, the world’s largest manager of alternative assets such as private equity and real estate, said on Thursday that its distributable earnings more than doubled in the first quarter to $1.2 billion as it cashed out on holdings.

The strong result cheered investors and pushed Blackstone’s market value to more than $100 billion for the first time. Deal-making activity surged in the quarter as a booming stock market and low borrowing costs emboldened private equity firms to sell some of their assets for top dollar. Read more>>

Blackstone Makes $3.1B First Close of Second Asia Pe Fund

Blackstone has held a $3.1 billion first closing of its second Asia-focused private equity fund, exceeding the $2.4 billion raised for the first fund in 2018, according to the firm’s president and CEO.

Jonathan Gray made the announcement during the company’s first-quarter 2021 earnings call Thursday. He did not specify the target for Blackstone Capital Partners Asia II, but earlier media reports have pegged the fund corpus at $5-6 billion. Read more>>

China’s CIFI Seeks to List Home Rental Arm After Boosting Assets

Chinese developer Cifi Holdings Group aims to list its rental residence business in a few years, as policymakers pledge to tame runaway home prices through a vibrant rental market.

The unit will seek a listing after tripling its portfolio to at least RMB 30 billion ($4.6 billion) in about three years, said chief executive Hanah Zhang. It aims to expand assets under management about tenfold to RMB 100 billion in a decade, she said. Read more>>

China Evergrande to Sell Onshore Bonds Worth $1.3B

China Evergrande, the country’s most indebted property developer, plans to sell onshore bonds worth RMB 8.2 billion ($1.3 billion) to pay down debts that are due soon.

Hengda Real Estate, the company’s Shenzhen unit, has proposed the bond sale, with an indicative interest-rate range of between 5.5 percent and 7.5 percent, according to documents filed with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Thursday. The bonds are to mature in five years.

The proceeds from the sale will be used to meet an early repayment request due on 6 May made by the investors of bonds worth RMB 15 billion maturing in 2023. Read more>>

Cindat JV Secures Debt Restructure for UK Hotel Portfolio

Joint venture partners Aprirose, a real estate investment company, and Cindat Capital Management, a Beijing-based international private equity firm, have announced the restructure of the debt with its lending club for the QHotels portfolio.

The international joint venture acquired the chain of landmark four- and five-star UK regional hotels from Bain Capital Credit and Canyon Partners in 2017, before successfully executing a series of high-profile sales including the iconic Midlands Hotel in Manchester, the Grade II-listed Mottram Hall in Cheshire and Bridgewood Manor in Chatham, Kent. Read more>>

ARA Logos Logistics Trust to Sell Upper Changi Property for $12.6M

The manager of ARA Logos Logistics Trust on Thursday entered into an agreement with PGI Holdings to divest of ALOG Changi DistriCentre 2 for S$16.7 million ($12.6 million).

The proposed sale consideration is approximately 7.7 percent above CBRE’s valuation of S$15.5 million as of 31 December 2020, the manager said in a bourse filing after trading hours. Read more>>

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