MELBOURNE: Affordability will remain an issue for the residential market in Melbourne, as the average first-home buyers' loan peaked at over AU$279,000 (RM785,421) in the previous two months from AU$275,000 in February this year, according to CB Richard Ellis (CBRE)’s second quarter 2010 MarketView report on the residential sector.

KUALA LUMPUR: UDA Holdings Bhd would commence construction to redevelop the Pudu Jail site by the first quarter of 2011 (1Q2011) with the project to be built in stages over 10 years, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Awang Adek Hussin told the Dewan Rakyat.

SINGAPORE: RiskMetrics, an independent advisory firm, on Monday, June 21, recommended that Parkway investors approve a proposal allowing a partial takeover bid by Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah.

Quantum leap from new listings

BEIJING: An increasingly audible outcry on the mainland over soaring home prices, at a time when millions still live in shanties, has prompted a search for solutions to make housing more affordable for both the poor and the growing middle class.

HAINAN: Whenever villagers from Fenghao on the island of Hainan saw a helicopter hovering over the island's southern Shenzhou peninsula, they guessed it was Larry Yung Chi-kin, the former chairman of Citic Pacific, on an inspection tour of the company's vast development in the area.

JAKARTA: Indonesian developer Bakrieland will cut the size of its planned rights issue to 3.2 trillion rupiah (RM1.13 billion), from 5.4 trillion rupiah, its chief said on Sunday, June 20.

Sungei Wang Plaza has presided over the city's ever-evolving retail landscape for the past 33 years.

Malaysia’s own Green Building Index (GBI) was launched in May last year. Initiated by building professionals with initial funding from Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia (PAM) and in collaboration with the Association of Consulting Engineers Malaysia (ACEM), the GBI is now being funded by the Malaysia Investment Development Authority (Mida).

There is usually a correlation between real estate values and highway accessibility, as evident from numerous successful projects and schemes located along major highways.