No drastic price drop for S’pore HDB flats

By ANN/ST They are people’s assets, says Singaporean minister SINGAPORE: Addressing fears that homeowners may lose their retirement nest eggs should prices of flats plunge, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said he wants to lower the prices of flats by just “a few per cent” over the next few years. Khaw did not specify [...]


China’s Q1 outstanding property loans up 16%

By REUTERS SHANGHAI: China’s outstanding real estate loans in the first quarter rose 16.4% from the same period a year ago, even as overall industrial lending slowed, data from the central bank showed. Banks in China had lent 13 trillion yuan (US$2 trillion) in outstanding loans to the property sector by end March, up 16.4% [...]


HK home prices may fall by 25pc following new rules

By BLOOMBERG HONG KONG: Hong Kong home prices will fall as much as 25 per cent after the government stepped up measures to curb an asset bubble and as banks raised mortgage rates, according to Sanford C. Bernstein HK Ltd. The number of new apartment sales will “remain largely subdued” with developers shifting their focus [...]


Property investment weak but sales strong

By REUTERS BEIJING: China’s real estate investment growth slowed in the first quarter, dragging down the broad economic recovery, though property sales remained strong, pushing up home prices and prompting policymakers to tighten property policies. Real estate investment, which was worth 11%of GDP in first quarter of 2013 and directly impacts around 40 other business [...]


M’sian funds buy two London property assets

By THE STAR Both are 2nd purchases by KWAP and LTH, having entered UK last year KUALA LUMPUR: In the latest foray of Malaysian funds into the prime London property market, Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP) or Retirement Fund Inc and Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) have bought into trophy office building 88 Wood Street, London EC2 [...]


Ireka: Viet projects starting to bear fruit

By BUSINESS TIMES IREKA Corp Bhd is poised to gain from its investments in Vietnam as most of the projects will start to bear fruits between now and 2018, boosting the group’s earnings, said a top official. Its infrastructure arm Ireka Engineering and Construction Vietnam Co Ltd (IECVCL) has completed a RM112 million job to [...]