HONG KONG: Surging China visitor arrivals in Hong Kong and the resulting jump in retail sales has driven prices of prime retail properties strongly higher, prompting owners to sell and take profit, according to agents.

HONG KONG: Property analysts called on the government to release new measures to cool the overheated property market, because Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah's budget failed to address the problem, they said.

SHEUNG SHUI: Residents of border town Sheung Shui are up in arms over changes to their neighbourhood brought by an increasing number of importers using flats to store goods.

HONG KONG: Living in Sheung Wan for more than two decades, Karen Lee Ka-man witnessed its gradual gentrification from an old residential district into one of fashionable offices and eateries.

HONG KONG: Demand for shops has been strong this year, with buying interest bolstered by strong retail sales and an improving economy.

PROPERTY SECTOR
My First Home Scheme launched

• It was reported in the media today that a scheme ‘My First Home Scheme’ has been launched officially by the Prime Minister. Recall that this scheme was announced during the
Budget 2011 in October.

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak launched the My First House Scheme here on Tuesday, Mar 8, and urged the financial institutions involved to make procedures as simple as possible for buyers.

KUALA LUMPUR: WCT Bhd has sold 70% of its 103 double-storey semi-detached houses called Gardia in its Bandar Parklands Bukit Tinggi 3 township in Klang. The houses were launched at the end of February, and sit on 98 out of 427 acres that the Bandar Parklands Bukit Tinggi 3 township is made up of.

TOKYO: Niseko Village, the winter resort in Hokkaido, northern Japan which YTL Corp Bhd acquired last April, will be turned into a sophisticated and vibrant all-year-round tourist destination under a 10-year master plan, said managing director Tan Sri Francis Yeoh.

KUALA LUMPUR: A 15 year-old company can be considered quite young but for GuocoLand China Ltd (GLC), the property arm of the Hong Leong Group in China, it can boast of tremendous success during that short span of time.