Singapore REIT Launches S$102M Offering to Fund Aussie Buy and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Australia leads the way in Mingtiandi’s roundup of real estate headlines today with the news that a Singapore-listed REIT has launched a preferential offering to raise funds to acquire a grade A office in Adelaide.

In other news around the region, the era of mainland China’s top developers’ skyrocketing profit is said to have come to an end, according to one analyst, while Beijing pressures a Southeast Asian country to ban online gambling, prompting a tumble in property stocks.

Elsewhere, Hong Kongers spooked by goings on at home have snapped up 200 units in two months in a housing complex in Kuala Lumpur developed by China’s largest developer.

Soilbuild REIT Launches S$102M Offering to Fund Aussie Buy

Soilbuild Business Space REIT (Soilbuild REIT) has launched a fully underwritten non-renounceable preferential offering to raise about $101.8 million ($74 million) to fund an Australia property acquisition.

The REIT will issue about 192.1 million new units at S$0.530 per unit, which represents an approximate 8.4 percent discount to the volume-weighted average price of S$0.5788 on 21 August. The proceeds will be used to fund the acquisition of a multi-tenanted freehold grade A property at in Adelaide. Read more>>

Wing Tai Buys A$50M Melbourne Data Centre

The 2019 APAC data centre merger and acquisitions game has gone up by A$50m ($34 million) with the acquisition of a data centre located in east Melbourne, Australia, by Singaporean property investor and institutional investor Wing Tai Holdings.

The facility located in Wesley Court at the Tally Ho Business Park in Burwood East, was acquired from a private Singaporean investor and at a yield said to be below 6.5 percent. Wing Tai’s acquisition in Australia could be just the first of many as the company has also created two property trusts in Australia. Read more>>

APREA and Prequin Launch New Fund Index

The Asia-Pacific Real Estate Association (APREA) and Preqin have joined forces to launch an index of closed-ended real estate funds.

APREA already hosts an index of listed real estate investment trusts with GPR, but the new APREA-Preqin Quarterly Monitor will be the first time it has sought to benchmark private real estate fund performance. Read more>>

Era of Skyrocketing Profit Dwindles for China Developers

Four mainland Chinese property developers reported slow growth in half-yearly profits on Thursday, in a sign even the top companies are losing momentum amid tighter regulations and slowing sales growth.

Country Garden, the largest seller of homes in China, reported a 23.4 percent increase in its interim core net profit, excluding valuation gains and foreign-exchange losses, to RMB 15.98 billion ($2.25 billion) for the six months ending on 30 June 30, according to a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange. The rise was well below the 80.2 percent increase in interim core net profit the company reported in 2018. Read more>>

India’s Largest Developer Denies Charge of Non-disclosure

DLF Ltd, India’s largest real estate firm, said on Thursday it had received a notice from the Supreme Court a month ago, but denied allegations made in an application that said the developer didn’t disclose key information during its recent qualified institutional placement (QIP).

The apex court has issued a notice to DLF based on a petition that also highlighted how it had suppressed key information regarding judicial proceedings against the largest chunk of its land bank in Haryana. Read more>>

Property Shares Fall As China Asks Philippines to Ban Online Gambling

Investors unloaded stocks in some of the country’s top property developers on Thursday, amid worries that China’s crackdown on online gambling will dent the rising demand for office space and condominiums fueled by Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) and their Chinese workers.

This came after China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang urged the Philippines to ban all forms of online gambling, even as the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation already suspended the issuance of new licenses to POGOs. Read more>>

Hong Kongers Buy 200 Malaysian Apartments in 2 Months

Hong Kong citizens have snapped up about 200 apartments in the past two months at a sprawling housing development in Malaysia, two estate agents said, a sign that some Hong Kongers are looking for homes elsewhere due to the political volatility at home.

The latest purchases will nearly double the number of apartments held by Hong Kong residents in the $100-billion Forest City developed by China’s Country Garden Holdings Ltd on the southern tip of Malaysia. Read more>>

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