Abu Dhabi is welcoming another Asian investment giant
The growing role of Middle Eastern money in global real estate markets leads today’s list of real estate headlines from around Asia, as Singapore’s Mapletree opens up in Abu Dhabi. Also making the list is India’s Embassy REIT and bargain hunting in Shanghai’s office market.
Temasek’s Mapletree Reaching Out to Gulf States with Abu Dhabi Foothold
Singapore’s Mapletree Investments Pte is opening an office in Abu Dhabi, joining a wave of Asian and global fund managers reaching out to gulf state capital.
The fund manager owned by state investor Temasek Holdings has re-hired Khairul Abdullah to lead its foray into the Middle East and scout for opportunities in the region, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. Read more>>
India’s Embassy REIT Explores Sale of Pune Office Campus for $143M
Embassy Group-managed Embassy Office Parks REIT is exploring a potential sale of its Embassy Quadron office campus in Pune’s tech-heavy Hinjawadi suburb, according to people familiar with the matter.
One of three Embassy REIT office assets in Pune, at 54 percent occupancy Embassy Quadron, significantly underperforms the trusts other properties in the city. Marketing for the 1.9 million square foot (176,515 square metre) property is expected to begin as early as this month. Read more>>
Companies Hunt for Cheaper Rents as Shanghai Office Market Weakens
More companies in Shanghai are chasing new leasing deals to cut down rental costs, as they increasingly relocate offices to less developed areas amid a sluggish office market.
Large corporate tenants, with growing bargaining power, are taking advantage of lower rents to rearrange their workplaces, according to property service firm JLL. Read more>>
Blackstone President Jon Gray Predicts ‘New Cycle’ for Real Estate Market
Blackstone president Jon Gray said that world’s largest alternative asset manager is ready to pounce on a pickup in property markets.
“The cost of capital has begun to decline, which should be further helped by Fed cuts later this year,” he told Wall Street analysts after the firm reported its second-quarter results. This shift will set the foundation for “a new cycle of increasing values in real estate”. Blackstone’s earnings were weighed down by mixed real estate results, as elevated interest rates crimped returns and investors pumped less money into the business. Read more>>
Sino-Ocean Debt Plan Gains Support, But Still Faces Resistance
Defaulted builder Sino-Ocean Group Holding Ltd. is working to garner enough support to help secure approval for its debt restructuring plan, but remains far short of the needed backing amid opposition from a key bondholder group.
The company has support from a lender group representing about half of the company’s so-called Class A debt, Sino-Ocean said in a Thursday filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange. Lenders have either entered into a restructuring support agreement or are going through internal procedures to obtain the relevant approvals to do so. Read more>>
Hong Leong’s Singapore Project Sells Over Half of 276 Units on Launch Weekend
Freehold condominium project Kassia sold 52 per cent of its 276 residential units on its launch weekend, with prices ranging between S$1,821 ($1,354) and S$2,177 per square foot.
The development, which comprises four blocks of eight storeys, occupies a 150,838 square foot (14,000 square metre) site in District 17 off Upper Changi Road North. About 90 percent of the buyers were Singaporeans, while permanent residents made up the rest. The project is estimated to obtain its temporary occupation permit in 2027. Read more>>
Chinese Top List of Foreign Buyers of US Homes for 11th Year
The Chinese were the top foreign buyers of US residential property for an 11th straight year, but their investment dropped more than 40 per cent from a year earlier, according to the US National Association of Realtors (NAR).
The Chinese spent S$7.5 billion on US homes in the 12 months to March 2024, compared with $13 billion in the year-earlier period, the NAR data showed. The association, which has 1.5 million members, groups buyers from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan as Chinese. Read more>>
Discounted Hong Kong Flats Sell Out in Weekend Launch, Reversing Sales Flops
Homebuyers snapped up all the new flats available during a weekend sale in the New Territories, attracted by the district’s cheapest launch prices in eight years after the developer offered massive discounts to revive demand in a sluggish market.
Early Light International Holdings, a property developer owned by the tycoon Francis Choi Chee-ming, sold all 188 apartments on offer during the initial launch of The Uppland at the Gold Coast Bay in Tuen Mun as of 6.20pm, according to real estate agents. Read more>>
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