Morgan Stanley acquires another 320,000 Amtek shares
Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore), the stabilising manager for the initial public offering of precision engineering group Amtek Engineering, has acquired an additional 320,000 shares in Amtek at $1.10 to $1.12 apiece.As of December 16, Morgan Stanley owns a significant stake of 5.0224 percent or...
Continue Reading • 21 Dec 2010
Shanghai company to develop world's highest hotel
Shanghai-based Jin Jiang International Hotels Group Co intends to build the highest hotel in the world in Shanghai, which will displace the nearby Park Hyatt and Hong Kong’s Ritz-Carlton, which opens in March.The venture with Shanghai Tower Development Co will see the development of the...
Continue Reading • 21 Dec 2010
KOP optimistic on Singapore luxury residential market
KOP Properties is optimistic on the prospects of the luxury residential market in Singapore, said Leny Suparman, chief executive of the company.“We are quite positive about the outlook for next year,” she said.While Singapore’s private home prices have risen since the end of the...
Continue Reading • 21 Dec 2010
HK resale home sales jump
Sales of resale apartments in Hong Kong rose over the weekend, as the index monitoring home prices had its biggest weekly decline in over six months, according to Centaline Property Agency Ltd.The number of transactions in projects like Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Tai Koo Shing rose 25 percent to 66...
Continue Reading • 21 Dec 2010
CDL China acquires first site
CDL China, a property arm of City Developments Limited (CDL) in China, has acquired a development site in Chongqing, China through a government land auction for around 232 million yuan (S$45.7 million).The site, which is located next to the historic Eling Park, comprises two adjacent plots with a...
Continue Reading • 20 Dec 2010
China's property boom continues unabated
China’s real estate boom remains “unabated” and has even picked up since the government’s announcement of cooling measures, said Jim Chanos, the hedge-fund manager who earlier predicted a market crash in 2010.Home prices in 70 cities jumped 7.7 percent last month from the...
Continue Reading • 20 Dec 2010
S-REITs acquire $7bn worth of properties
Singapore real estate investment trusts (REITs) have acquired $7 billion worth of properties in the country and overseas to date this year.Analysts said the shopping spree will likely continue next year but warned that not all acquisitions may be yield-accretive and overseas transactions could...
Continue Reading • 20 Dec 2010
More foreigners buying private homes in Singapore
More foreigners became active in the Singapore property market in November, buying almost one in three new private homes in the country.Nearly 30 percent of the total number of new private homes were snapped up by foreigners and permanent residents (PRs) in November, up 8 percent from the 22...
Continue Reading • 20 Dec 2010
Cushman & Wakefield to expand property portfolio in Asia
The world’s largest privately held property services firm Cushman & Wakefield Inc plans to expand its asset management portfolio, as demand for property investment in the Asia Pacific region grows.“We have about $7 billion under management right now so we have a lot of room”...
Continue Reading • 20 Dec 2010
HK to implement reverse mortgage pilot plan
The Hong Kong government has announced it will implement a reverse mortgage pilot plan next year.This comes after a two-month survey of more than 1000 aging home owners who had almost paid off their mortgages (or had finished paying it off). Nearly 50 percent of those surveyed had showed interest...
Continue Reading • 20 Dec 2010
US mortgage rates hit 7-month high
Mortgage rates in the US hit their highest level in seven months last week, as rates rose for five consecutive weeks alongside the 10-year Treasury note yields.According to Freddie Mac, the average 30-year mortgage rates jumped by nearly a quarter to around 4.83 percent last week, the highest...
Continue Reading • 17 Dec 2010
No new luxury projects launched in Q4
Property developers still held back on launching new luxury developments in the fourth quarter even as buyer interest in these projects increased slightly in the past two months.According to CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), no new luxury developments were released in Q4, despite the increased buying...
Continue Reading • 17 Dec 2010
Australia to see soft residential market next year
Australia’s housing industry is hinting at a soft residential building market for next year, according to the quarterly report card HIA National Outlook.The Housing Industry Association (HIA) said there are indications that the recovery in new home building will reverse next year.“The...
Continue Reading • 17 Dec 2010
Beijing's property prices jumped 9.1% last month
Property prices in Beijing rose 9.1 percent year-on-year last month, but below 20 percent compared to October’s price increase, according to a statistics released by the Beijing Statistics Bureau.Property prices fell 0.2 percent month-on-month in November, but prices for new homes rose 14.3...
Continue Reading • 17 Dec 2010
Property traders may turn to equities
Upbeat estimates for the Hong Kong stock market could attract real estate traders to the equities market, as higher initial down payments and additional stamp duties threaten to squeeze returns on property.After the announcement of the tax and credit measures in November to curb speculation in...
Continue Reading • 17 Dec 2010
Hedge funds demonstrating greater transparency
The worldwide hedge fund industry is responding willingly to requests of investors for more transparency, according to a new report from Ernst & Young.Investors said they receive absolute performance data from 95 percent of hedge funds, while another 74 percent of funds present data showing...
Continue Reading • 17 Dec 2010
Pan Pacific unit acquires Hilton's Melbourne hotel
Pan Pacific Hotels Group (PPHG), through its wholly-owned subsidiary Success City Pty Limited, has agreed to purchase Hilton Melbourne Airport Hotel for approximately $141.55 million.PPHG, a unit of UOL Group, said it had entered a sales agreement with Mulpha Hotel and Mulpha Hotel (Melbourne) to...
Continue Reading • 17 Dec 2010
Sale value from property auctions rose 33%
The value of properties sold at auctions jumped 33 percent to $223.9 million this year, driven by more big ticket sales and soaring property prices.According to Colliers International, the residential sector accounted for 51.3 percent of the total value of properties sold at auctions this year....
Continue Reading • 17 Dec 2010
Asplenium Land acquires Seletar Road site
A land parcel at Seletar Road has been awarded to Asplenium Land Ltd after offering the highest bid of $123 million in a public tender that closed on December 14.The site was launched for sale on October 26 under the confirmed list of the government’s 2H2010 GLS programme. Zoned for...
Continue Reading • 17 Dec 2010
Strong liquidity, low interest rates boost private home sales
Private residential home sales this year have been fuelled by strong liquidity and low interest rates, with the take-up of new homes in the fourth quarter estimated at 3,600 to 4,000 units.Joseph Tan, executive director for residential at CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), said: “Projects located...
Continue Reading • 17 Dec 2010