Zoom plans to set up a research and development centre in Singapore
In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, video conferencing juggernaut Zoom announces a big expansion in Singapore, Hong Kong retains its crown as the world’s priciest city for expats, and Guocoland draws unwanted attention from Malaysia’s stock exchange over unusual price movements.
Zoom to Set Up R&D Centre and Hire Hundreds in Singapore
Zoom Video Communications said Wednesday that it would expand its presence in Singapore by opening a research and development centre and immediately hire hundreds of engineering staff for the new operations.
The video-conferencing services provider said it is doubling its data centre capacity in the country. The San Jose, California-based company launched the Singapore data centre, its first in Southeast Asia, in August. Read more>>
HK Tops World’s Most Expensive Cities Despite Downturn
Hong Kong has — once again — topped a ranking of the most expensive cities in the world for expatriates, despite a slide in rental prices attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing political uncertainty.
Tuesday’s cost-of-living survey from research data firm ECA International — which compares data compiled in September 2019 and September 2020 — landed the city in first place globally, followed by Tokyo, New York and Geneva. Read more>>
Keppel Land Leads Series A Round for Co-Living Startup Cove
Keppel Land, the property arm of Keppel Corp, has taken a minority stake in co-living platform Cove as the lead investor in the startup’s $4.6 million Series A funding round.
The size of the stake was not disclosed in Keppel Land’s statement on Tuesday. Keppel Land CEO Tan Swee Yiow said that co-living solutions can be “incorporated in our development projects, potentially augmenting their value, and be developed into scalable and sustainable recurring income streams”. Read more>>
Singapore Condo Resale Prices Rise for 4th Straight Month
Resale prices of non-landed private homes in Singapore rose for the fourth straight month in November, flash figures from real estate portal SRX Property showed on Tuesday.
Overall prices were up 0.3 percent from October 2020 and up 1.3 percent from November 2019. All regions saw price increases in November 2020. Read more>>
Guocoland Queried by Malaysian Stock Exchange
Guocoland Malaysia Bhd has been slapped with an unusual market activity query by Bursa Malaysia over the sharp rise in its share price and volume today.
At today’s closing, the stock was 18 sen or 31.3 percent higher at 76 sen ($0.19) — its highest since March 2019. In just the last two weeks, the stock has surged 46 percent from when it was trading at 52 sen. Read more>>
New World, Swire Cash In on Green Buildings
Major developers in Hong Kong, and their tenants, have hit a proverbial gold mine in the form of “green buildings” across the city that are handing them huge savings in power costs.
Swire Properties and New World Development said they have saved a combined HK$86 million ($11.09 million) on electricity in the last financial year. Banks have helped to bolster the sector by offering lower interest rates on loans earmarked for the construction of environmentally sustainable buildings. Read more>>
Chinese Tenants, Landlords Damaged by Danke Debacle
For Henry Wang and thousands of other young tenants across China, the business model pitched by one of China’s largest rental specialists seemed to be exactly what they were looking for — a win-win arrangement in which they were offered a decent place to live at an affordable price in a major city, while increasing the rental profits of property owners.
It seemed too good to be true — right up until the moment his landlord showed up and told him to get out. Read more>>
Hongkongers Remortgage to Invest Overseas
Hongkongers are remortgaging their homes to buy foreign property while inquiries about immigrating to the UK have surged about 50 percent, according to Midland Immigration Consultancy.
After the pandemic broke at the start of the year, immigration inquiries fell to double digits and had been hovering at low levels, Midland director of strategy Tina Cheng Tin-yan said. Read more>>
Tune in again soon for more real estate news and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter, or bookmark Mingtiandi’s LinkedIn page for headlines as they happen.
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