WHEN Sean Clifford returned to Hong Kong for a friend's wedding in 2005, he couldn't believe the kind of rental returns he estimated he could achieve in a year after renovating an apartment in one of the city's old walk-up buildings. 'I went out and looked at property, and I was shocked,' he recalled. 'It was a 25-30 per cent return on your cash if you took an apartment and renovated it' in an appealing...
Overseas Property
THE famed Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC, which has been vacant since 2007, was sold this week to a group of European investors by the bank that foreclosed on the hotel last summer. Euro Capital Partners bought the 251-room hotel on prestigious Virginia Avenue for US$45 million in an all-cash deal, said Marc Magazine, who led the sale of the hotel for broker CB Richard Ellis. The sale closed on...
Enormous investment opportunities lay in the emerging superpower, says Cityscape Asia 2010 China holds enormous opportunities for investment as its economy surges, say leading economists and investment experts at Cityscape Asia 2010 in Singapore yesterday. Speaking at a keynote session on evaluating the economic outlook for China 2010 and beyond, David Wong, Chief Economist at Shui On Land, said the...
Singapore construction firm Tiong Seng Holdings has signed a deal to jointly develop up to three plots of land in Tianjin Eco-City. It will be working with the property's master developer, Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Investment and Development Co, and Japanese firm Mitsui Fudosan Residential Company. The joint venture deal is worth 4.5 billion renminbi. Tiong Seng holds a 9 percent stake or about...
Mainboard-listed Chinese developer Yanlord said today that its first quarter net profit fell by 23 per cent on-year to S$18.7 million. The decline in profit follows a 7 per cent drop in revenue from the year ago period to S$173.1 million. Yanlord says the decrease in revenue was mainly attributable to a reduction in the gross floor area delivered over the period. Other than seeing a fall in revenue, the...
The Hong Kong government pledged to boost land supply as it tries to cool the property market, a day after its first auction of the fiscal year fetched almost a third less than surveyors' estimates. "We hope the market will be stable," Financial Secretary John Tsang said. "There will be land auctions in June and July." Hong Kong has limited corporate purchases of apartments and it may raise the stamp...
China's inflation has accelerated as bank lending exceeded estimates and property prices jumped by a record, increasing pressure on the government to raise interest rates and let the currency appreciate. Consumer prices rose 2.8 per cent last month from a year earlier, the fastest pace in 18 months, while real estate prices jumped 12.8 per cent, the statistics bureau said yesterday. Meanwhile, new...
Chip Eng Seng Corporation said on Monday its wholly-owned subsidiary, CES Corporation Australia, has jointly acquired a land parcel in Perth. The construction and property group said the latest acquisition will be placed under its new joint venture company called 242 West Coast Highway Scarborough. The joint venture company acquired the land parcel located in Scarborough, Western Australia for A$20...
Sydney real-estate agent Poh Ling Ee remembers the young couple who came to her hoping she could help them buy their first home for a reasonable price. But with a buying frenzy making Australian homes among the world's least affordable, Ms Poh said her advice was to take the next home they liked and not quibble too much about the cost. "You just pay whatever you have to pay to get it before auction," she...
AT A time when record property prices are making headlines here, some Singaporeans are splurging millions in Japan, on freehold ski lodges and apartments in Niseko, a ski town in Hokkaido. Last December, Singaporeans snapped up 16 out of 23 apartments in one development within 1 1/2 months - for a total sum of US$20 million (S$27.5 million) to US$30 million. The Vale Niseko project houses 49 luxurious...