HONG KONG: Grade A office and luxury residential rentals in Hong Kong are projected to grow 20% and 15%, respectively, in the next 12 months, according to Colliers International’s Greater China Office & Residential Market Overview 2Q 2010 report which was released on July 29.

KUALA LUMPUR: Homebuyers and property investors will be taking a more cautious stance in the second half of 2010 (2H2010) compared with the first half of the year. Nevertheless, the outlook for the Malaysian housing market will remain positive on the back of the recovering economy, said Henry Butcher Marketing Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Tang Chee Meng.

KUALA LUMPUR: Newly launched Empire Shopping Gallery in Subang Jaya has leased 90% of the mall’s net lettable space to date, said the managing director of Mammoth Empire Holding Sdn Bhd Datuk Sean Ng.

SHANGHAI: Shanghai plans to issue detailed regulation on the property sector in the second half of this year, the Securities Times reported on Friday, July 30.

Overall housing market transactions for the year are expected to fall sharply, Zhou Bo, head of the Shanghai Municipal Development & Reform Commission was quoted as saying.

KUALA LUMPUR: Property developer Talam Corporation Bhd plans to clean up its balance sheet by reducing gearing and repaying its debts this year, before launching new projects in the second half of next year.

CONTINUING with our article feature on real estate investment trusts (REIT) in Malaysia — we discussed the Al-Aqar KPJ REIT and AmFIRST REIT in our previous article — we have chosen three others to highlight today.

HONG KONG: Sellers of a luxury house on The Peak are confident of achieving a record price following the positive result at this week's land auction.

The Shang family, owners of the China Can Company, appointed property agency Jones Lang LaSalle to conduct a tender for the 62-year-old house at 20 Peak Road. The tender will close on Sept 15.

HONG KONG: Middle-income earners hoping that government exhortations to developers to build more smaller, affordable flats will bear fruit are in for a disappointment.

KUALA LUMPUR: From Aug 1, Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributors who have not made withdrawals for buying houses or to reduc
their housing loans, will have the chance to purchase costlier houses under the Fund's Flexible Housing Withdrawal scheme.

HONG KONG: A site on The Peak fetched the third-highest land price in the city's history on Wednesday, July 28 underscoring the continued strength of the luxury residential market.

Nan Fung Development and The Wharf (Holdings) paid HK$10.4 billion (RM4.27 billion) in an auction for the site at 103 Mount Nicholson Road — HK$32,014 per square foot.