Hours after Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said he would ban foreigners from buying homes in the Forest City project in Johor, its developer responded by pointing to laws that allow foreigners to purchase land in the country. In fact, Tun Mahathir had welcomed foreign investment during a meeting with the firm in Beijing just weeks ago, said Country Garden Pacificview. The developer added...
Overseas Property
Singapore investors have spent in total US$4.6 billion (S$6.3 billion) on cross-border real estate transactions in the 12 months through to the second quarter of this year. According to a report released by Real Capital Analytics (RCA), a real estate and market intelligence provider, it ranked Singapore investors as the second most active in Asia-Pacific during the reported period. One of the top...
CapitaLand has won its bid to acquire two prime residential sites in Guangzhou, China, for 2.05 billion yuan (S$409 million). Announced yesterday, the two sites in the Zengcheng district occupy 150,000 sq m of land, and could allow the developer to build up to 1,300 homes by 2021 aimed at first-time home buyers and upgraders, CapitaLand said. Zengcheng, where prominent companies such as Foxconn and...
Crowne Plaza Surfers Paradise in Australia has been put on the market by its owners - a Singaporean family - for more than A$100 million, said marketing agent CBRE Hotels. Standing on a 1.2-hectare site, the resort complex comprises the 269-room Crowne Plaza Hotel currently operated by IHG, management rights for the 104-room Gold Tower, retail space, a tavern, 15 function venues and multiple food and...
Ascendas Hospitality Trust has on June 15 entered into an agreement with ES-CON Japan via Ascendas Hospitality Real Estate Investment Trust (A-HReit) to acquire three hotels in Japan’s Osaka city for a purchase consideration of 10.29 billion Japanese yen (S$126.1 million). The manager of the hospitality trust said that the acquisition of the three hotels, Hotel WBF Kitasemba West, Hotel WBF Kitasemba...
Despite the temporary closure of China showrooms promoting the massive Forest City project planned in Malaysia last month, fewer than 60 buyers in China have asked about cancelling their bookings, Chinese developer Country Garden Holdings (CGH) said on Thursday (Apr 6). The company said it sold more than 15,000 residential units under the project last year. Chinese nationals accounted for 70 per cent...
The run-up in U.S. real estate prices could potentially amplify any future economic downturn, a Federal Reserve official said on Tuesday, urging regulators globally to consider tools beyond interest rates that could help cool the sector. A sharp downturn in U.S. residential and commercial property prices in 2007 and 2008 rocked banks that were highly leveraged in the sector, sparking the global...
Two recent charges against local real estate firms promoting overseas residential investments have put the spotlight back on such risky purchases. A financial penalty was imposed on property agency Square Yards last month after it failed to to provide a written note to an investor telling him about the risks involved in a foreign purchase, according to a media release by the Council for Estate Agencies...
The vast majority of overseas companies that own property in London, including many used by individuals to help disguise their ownership, are registered in tax havens, according to a report by Transparency International UK and Thomson Reuters. Just over 90 per cent of the 23,653 overseas companies owning 44,022 land titles in London were registered in places such as the British Virgin islands, Jersey,...
A surge in purchases of Hong Kong homes by non-residents offers one explanation for what's driven an 11 per cent rebound in property prices from a March bottom. In September, 250 homes were sold to non-resident foreigners, the most in 14 months and 36 per cent higher than the average for the previous four months, according to data from Hong Kong's Inland Revenue Department. That compares with a low of...