SG’s First REIT Falls 35% After Default Warning and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, a Singaporean REIT’s traded units suffer a punishing loss, US developer Hines agrees to sell its stake in an Indian office project, and Danke appears to have ceased operating its home rental referral platform in China.

SG’s First REIT Falls 35% After Proposing Equity Sale to Avert Default

The manager of First Real Estate Investment Trust (First REIT) on Monday announced a proposed rights issue to raise gross proceeds of around S$158.2 million ($119.1 million), which it said was “critical” for the REIT to meet its debt covenants and avoid an imminent default of 39.8 percent of total debt due on March 1 next year.

The REIT’s units sank on the news. At the midday break, the counter traded at 27.5 cents, down 32.1 percent or 13 cents from the previous close. It had fallen as much as 33.3 percent or 13.5 cents to 27 cents earlier in the morning. Read more>>

Hines to Sell Stake in India Office Project to Partner DLF for $106M

DLF Cyber City Developers Limited (DCCDL), the rental arm of real estate developer DLF Group, has entered into an agreement to buy out US development and investment firm Hines’s stake in One Horizon Center, the company said in a statement on Friday.

The commercial property One Horizon is located at DLF 5, Gurugram and has a leasable area of 814,169 square feet (75,639 square metres) including a retail component. Read more>>

Guangzhou’s Agile Group Sells Project Stakes to Ping An for $1.1B

Chinese property developer Agile Group Holdings is selling stakes worth RMB 7.05 billion ($1.08 billion) in seven property projects to Ping An Insurance Group, a move that should bring it much-needed cash before a regulatory hurdle for borrowing takes effect and allow Ping An to deepen its footprint in China’s vast property market.

Hong Kong-listed Agile is selling its interests in the developments, mainly in southern and east-central parts of mainland China, to a group of Ping An subsidiaries. Read more>>

NYSE-Listed Danke Stops Adding New Home Listings Amid Crisis

Danke, battling speculations about its financial viability less than a year after its New York initial public offering, appears to have ceased operating its home rental referral platform in China.

The smartphone application of the Beijing-based company, formally known as Phoenix Tree Holding, has stopped listing vacant homes available for rent, their prices, photos or any other information. Danke’s executives could not be reached for comment on Christmas Day, a normal business and market day in China. Read more>>

Wharf Launches Tender for Peak Flats After Bagging Pricey Site

Hong Kong developer Wharf Holdings is selling five luxury flats through tender at the exclusive Mount Nicholson development on The Peak. The flats, measuring 4,230-4,601 square feet (393-427 square metres), will be put on the market on 1 January, Wheelock Properties, the development’s sales agent, said last Thursday.

The announcement of the sale came just a day after Wharf won the tender for a residential plot on Mansfield Road on The Peak for a record HK$12 billion ($1.55 billion). The Mansfield Road plot is now the most expensive residential site in terms of square footage sold through government tender. Read more>>

Oaktree Sweetens Offer for India Home Financing Business

Oaktree Capital has increased its offer for Dewan Housing Finance Corporation by INR 1,700 crore ($231 million), sources close to development told FE. In an email sent to the committee of creditors just before the scheduled meeting of lenders last Thursday, Oaktree Capital said it would allocate INR 1,700 crore as additional interest income to financial creditors. The increase in the offer came after rival bidder Piramal Capital and Housing Finance offered to increase the interest income by a similar amount.

“In an effort not to gain an unfair advantage, we have allocated an amount of additional interest income to the financial creditors equal to the total increase offered by the second highest bidder for the additional interest income and the insurance stake, so that the bids may once again be compared on a consistent basis,” the email sent to the committee of creditors said. Read more>>

Online Real Estate Auctions Catch on with Mainland Speculators

Internet auctions of real estate have taken off in China as the affluent make the most of the laxer rules for auctions compared with conventional transactions.

A 20-year-old condominium unit in Xianxia Lu, a residential area in western Shanghai, drew 90 bids in an auction that ran from Monday to Thursday last week. The race to purchase the property turned into a dead heat. Read more>>

Survey Shows Recovery in SG Private Housing Resale Prices

The Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) released by the National University of Singapore for October and the flash estimate for November 2020 showed a broad-based recovery in private residential resale property prices last month.

The price indices in all the different market segments increased marginally last month, compared with the preceding month. In October, the overall SRPI and Central SRPI decreased by 0.1 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively, from September. Read more>>

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