In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, Hong Kong blue-chip developer Wheelock has beat out a field of local heavyweights to win the rights to the last slice of land above the MTR station in Hong Kong’s Wong Chuk Hang area.
Also in the news, AXA IM and Logos have banded together to bid for a Blackstone logistics portfolio in Australia, a Hong Kong entrepreneur pays north of $77 million for an exclusive Peak property, and China home prices continue their tear despite cooling measures.
Wheelock Wins Rights to MTR Wong Chuk Hang Project in Hong Kong
Wheelock Properties, one of Hong Kong’s largest developers, has won the right to build apartments at the Wong Chuk Hang subway station, beating five competitors to one of the last remaining plots of land around the city’s mass transport network.
The developer’s bid for the 46,800 square metre (503,750 square foot) site topped those put in by CK Asset, Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP), Henderson Land Development, K Wah and a venture between Kerry Properties and Sino Land. Read more>>
AXA Teams With Logos in Bid for Blackstone Aussie Portfolio
The race for the biggest property deal of the year, an A$3 billion ($2.3 billion)-plus portfolio of logistics assets accumulated by Blackstone, has narrowed to four contenders, who may yet see the prize snatched from their hands for an IPO offering instead.
Five final round bidders for what Blackstone has dubbed the Milestone Logistics portfolio became four this week, as two of the parties joined forces: local investment house Logos and AXA Investment Managers. ASX-listed Dexus, along with Asian powerhouses ESR and Mapletree, also lodged their bids this week. Read more>>
Hong Kong Entrepreneur Pays $77.4M for Peak Property
Hong Kong-based entrepreneur Alex Fang, co-founder of private equity firm eGarden Ventures, has paid about HK$601 million ($77.4 million) to be the new owner of a luxury home at The Peak developed by Wheelock Properties, according to a person familiar with the situation who declined to be identified because the information is not public.
Fang paid HK$90,000 per square foot for the 6,676 square foot (620 square metre) property at 77B Peak Road, arguably the most exclusive address in the city, in the latest sign that the luxury property market is proving resilient despite a wider economic downturn. The transaction is one of the highest ever achieved for Wheelock. Read more>>
China Home Prices Rose at 7-Month High in March
New home prices in China rose at the fastest pace in seven months in March and price rises spread to more cities, data showed on Friday, as property demand remained red-hot despite government efforts to cool the market.
Separate official data also showed that property investment remained elevated for the first three months of the year, and sales soared even as authorities further tightened property curbs in dozens of major cities. Read more>>
Investors Concerned About DBS Trustee’s Management of EHT
Eagle Hospitality Trust has effectively fallen under the “care” of DBS Trustee after its original manager was removed for multiple breaches of the Securities and Futures Act last year and plans to install a new manager did not succeed.
Since then, corporate entities under EHT — which is a stapled group comprising Eagle Hospitality Real Estate Investment Trust and the dormant Eagle Hospitality Business Trust — have filed for bankruptcy protection in the US, and one hotel has been sold for $18 million. Read more>>
China Regulators Worry Over Misuse of Bank Loans for Home Buys
Property purchases in China funded through bank loans fraudulently obtained by speculators are fuelling already red-hot real estate markets in its biggest cities and beginning to alarm regulators.
Four Tier 1 Chinese cities, including Shenzhen and Shanghai, have reported since March that a probe by financial regulators found that RMB 877.8 million ($134.21 million) in bank loans was improperly used for property purchases. Read more>>
Singapore Property Investment Said Set to Return to Pre-COVID Levels
Property investment sales in Singapore are expected to return to pre-COVID levels over the next three quarters of the year as investor sentiments continue to improve amid economic growth and stability, said real estate consultancy Colliers.
Real estate investment sales rose 25.8 percent in the first quarter of this year, posting a year-on-year increase of 47.9 percent to S$3.8 billion ($2.9 billion). The figure excludes mergers and government land sales. Read more>>
HK Lawmakers Revive Push for Vacancy Tax
Hong Kong’s developers and analysts have warned that it’s not a good time for the government to revisit a shelved vacancy tax proposal for unsold homes, even as the idea received backing from lawmakers amid the city’s housing shortfall.
Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan told legislators on Wednesday that he “would not rule out the possibility of proposing a vacancy tax again”, while the government is collecting more detailed data of unsold units and their sizes. Read more>>
Hongkong Land Signs HK$6.85B in Green Loans
Hongkong Land announced the signing of HK$6.85 billion ($880 million) in sustainability-linked loans, further building on its commitment to sustainable financing after the announcement last August of its first sustainability-linked loan of HK$1 billion with DBS.
Five sustainability-linked revolving credit facilities totalling HK$6.85 billion have been signed since November 2020: two four-year loan facilities with DBS (HK$1.5 billion) and MUFG (HK$900 million), and three five-year loan facilities with BOCHK (HK$2.7 billion), HSBC (HK$1 billion) and OCBC Bank (HK$750 million). Read more>>
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