Banking tycoon Wee Cho Yaw has joined a group of Hong Kong investors to acquire a former landmark property in the heart of Beverly Hills for US$148.3 million ($194.2 million). Joint Treasure International, a Hong Kong-based private equity firm, has bought the eight-acre property next to the Beverly Hilton in California at a private bank auction. Media reports said the 9900 Wilshire Boulevard site,...
US Property
Home sales in the United States probably increased last month, a sign the real estate market is stabilising after the expiration of a tax credit caused demand to plunge, economists said ahead of reports due to be released this week. Purchases of new and previously owned homes rose 7 per cent to a combined 4.395 million annual pace, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. A separate...
Housing as a luxury item or a staple - it may boil down to what numbers you believe Of all the uncertainties in the halting American economic recovery, the housing market may be the most confusing of all. At times, real estate seems to be in the early stages of a severe double dip. Home sales plunged in July and some analysts are now predicting that the market will struggle for years, if not...
Unruffled by the moribund United States housing sector, New York's residential property market is booming. With mortgage rates and property prices at historic lows, the city's affluent residents are cashing on the economic conjuncture to get a pad at bargain values. Real estate agencies are reporting a surge in activity in private home sales in the Big Apple in recent months. "Right now we are actually...
If ever a building threaded itself into the hallowed history of New York City, it is the red brick town house at 41 Charlton Street, framed by lustrous wrought-iron railings topped with little pineapples, a symbol of hospitality. Built in 1827 by John Jacob Astor, it occupies what was originally the site of Richmond Hill, the Georgian mansion that served as Aaron Burr's country seat. Over the decades the...
Property and hospitality firm City Developments, through its subsidiary City e-Solutions, has acquired Renaissance Syracuse Hotel in Syracuse, New York. The purchase price of the hotel is US$10 million, which represents US$35,842 per key and a 14 per cent yield on 2009 net operating income. The acquisition was made through a joint venture firm, which City e-Solutions has a 50 per cent stake. The...
It will embark on plans to reduce home owners' mortgage principal Bank of America yesterday announced plans to start forgiving mortgage loan principal for troubled homeowners who owe more than 120 per cent of their home's value or are battling ever-expanding 'negative amortisation' loans. According to a summary of the programme obtained by Reuters, Bank of America pledged to offer an 'earned principal...
INVESTORS here now have the opportunity to cash in on distressed properties in the United States. Yesterday, property investment group IP Global said it would be the first to offer such properties for sale, through its Singapore real estate partner Adhome Realty. The first development on the block is a downtown Los Angeles residential project at prices that are, on average, 30 per cent lower than before...
Surging US home foreclosures rose to another record in May, according to a survey Friday which showed home foreclosure actions hit a fresh all-time high of 261,255. A building up for auction in Baltimore The survey by research firm RealtyTrac said the percentage of foreclosure actions -- including default, auction sale notices and bank repossessions -- rose seven percent from the prior month and spiked...