KUALA LUMPUR: Hong Kong real estate tycoons took the lead in Forbes Asia’s Hong Kong 40 Richest list this year. According to Forbes Asia, over a dozen of the Top 40 richest have substantial real estate investments there, including several property developers.

KUALA LUMPUR: Land & General Bhd’s (L&G) proposed joint-venture (JV) mixed development in Jalan Ampang here is expected to commence towards the end of the year, said its managing director Low Gay Teck.

He said the development, comprising serviced apartments, studio apartments and commercial space, would have a gross development value (GDV) of about RM400 million.

EDINBURGH: Luxury-home prices in central London rose last month at the fastest annual pace since April 2008 as a growing number of buyers chased fewer properties on the market, Knight Frank LLP said.

SINGAPORE: A bungalow on Singapore’s Ocean Drive, a stretch of luxury homes lined with Bentleys and Ferraris, sold for a record S$30 million (RM72.6 million) in October. In Hong Kong, a duplex a third the size went for almost three times as much the same month.

SYDNEY: Australia's office vacancy rate hit its highest level in five years in the six months to January and a significant rise in supply this year will likely keep the sector under pressure, the Australian Property Council said.

KUALA LUMPUR: The owners of 237 houses in the 5A and 5B phases of the Saujana Putra housing estate can move in to their homes after a year's delay as Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) has agreed to provide temporary water supply.

The delay was due to the failure of the developer providing the water supply.

KUALA LUMPUR: Listed Tower Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), which leases office space in the Klang Valley, said its net trust income for its financial year ending Dec 31, 2009 rose to RM30.06 million from RM27.82 million in its previous financial year on the back of increased revenue to RM49.83 million from RM46.34 million.

KUALA LUMPUR: Main-board listed Equine Capital Bhd. saw its third quarter losses for its financial year ending March 31, 2010 narrow to RM8.2 million from a loss of RM22.66 million for the same period in the previous financial year. Losses narrowed on the back of decreased 3Q revenue of RM7.62 million from RM14.47 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

BEIJING: A major Chinese bank has raised mortgage rates in one of the first signs of how a government lending clampdown is rippling through the economy and could tame turbo-charged growth but spook investors, according to Reuters.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong-listed developer Hang Lung Properties aims to invest US$2 billion (RM6.8 billion) to US$3 billion over the next couple of years into China if it finds good opportunities in the country's commercial property sector, a top executive said.