Luxury flats in growing demand in China

Oct 28, 2009

In a survey released on Oct 16 by Colliers, an International Property Service Company, the leasing demand for luxury properties in Beijing is on the rise in the third quarter while the vacancy rate has dropped to 28 percent.

This news comes hand-in-hand with a report from the Beijing Statistics Bureau, released last week, saying the local GDP has increased to 816 billion yuan ($119 billion) as of this year's third quarter, up 9.5 percent year-on-year.

As a sign of renewed confidence in the Chinese housing market, Ascott, the Singapore-based international service residence owner-operator, opened its fifth property to the public in Beijing, the Ascott Raffles City Beijing, last Tuesday.


Click here to read full article at China Daily.

Rooting for Rio

Oct 12, 2009

Gary Garrabrant, a native Chicagoan who manages overseas investments for real estate mogul Sam Zell, admits to being "delighted" that Rio de Janeiro beat his hometown in the contest to host the 2016 Olympics.

Mr. Garrabrant's glee is understandable: He's CEO of Chicago-based Equity International, which has major holdings in five of Brazil's biggest real estate companies, including a 19% stake in the second-biggest homebuilder, Gafisa S.A., whose shares have jumped nearly 3% since Oct. 2, when the International Olympic Committee chose Rio to host the 2016 Summer Games.

Click here to read full article at Chicago Business.

Appetite Up In Overseas Property Lending

Oct 5, 2009

LONDON (Reuters) - The international real estate lending market has improved in the second half of 2009, with more banks willing to lend sums over 20 million pounds on British commercial property, a survey by real estate consultancy Savills <SVS.L> showed on Tuesday.

Savills said the greater appetite to lend was due to greater stability in global financial markets and a narrowing in the gap between base rate and Libor to 20 basis points (bps), from its 160 bps peak in the fourth quarter of 2008.

"Furthermore the disparity between the average property yield and a bank's own cost of funding ... has never been greater," Savills said in a statement. "This means banks can lend on secure and very profitable terms."

Click here to read full article at the New York Times.

Buying suppport returning for Dubai and Abu Dhabi properties

Oct 3, 2009

The UAE property boom may have cooled for a while but there are many bargains to be had in the meantime.

Prices of apartments, villas, and commercial suites, and entire buildings are up for grabs at depressed prices.

On the whole prices have fallen more than 40% since their September peak last year. Glitzy developments on Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Marina, and in Abu Dhabi have left stretched buyers out on a limb. 

Click here to read full article at Austin News.

Australia is now a hot real estate market for Chinese investors

Sep 22, 2009

Chinese buyers are snapping up some of the best luxury properties in Sydney including big homes on the harbor, and new condominium developments.

Real estate brokers and developers said Chinese buyers are most interested in hot properties in the inner-city and by the beach. They are attracted by new foreign ownership rules, a favorable exchange rate, and the relative stability of the Australian property market.

After the UK and New Zealand, China is third in the lineup of countries that sends immigrants to Australia. Last financial year, more than 70,000 Chinese arrived in Australia to live permanently, including a steady stream of business migrants and a growing number of students.

Click here to read full article at China Daily.

US: Housing crisis is over says Warren Buffett

Sep 17, 2009

Warren Buffet, one of the most successful investors in history (net worth US $62 billion), told CNBC yesterday that the residential real estate crisis in the US is approaching an end.

Click here to read full article at Global Edge.

Despite Slowdown, Real Estate Market in Hong Kong Remains Strong

Sep 7, 2009

HONG KONG — Even by the standards of Hong Kong’s skyscraper-studded skyline, the new International Commerce Center is big. Very big.

And in a testament to the strength of one of the world’s hottest property markets, it is already nearly fully rented despite the global economic slump.

At 1,607 feet, the gleaming, nearly complete tower is the tallest building in Hong Kong, with views of the Chinese mainland and the islands off its coast. 

Click here to read full article at the New York Times.

Pushing The Limits With Luxury Madeira Property

Sep 3, 2009

As one of the most far flung points of Europe, buying Madeira property is about as far as you can go to get away from it all without setting foot on another continent.Politically and economically, the island is inextricably linked to Portugal, but geographically, Madeira is anchored about 500 miles out in the Atlantic and is not part of any continent.

For those wanting a holiday home that’s out of the way, Madeira’s the ideal place. The temperature is consistently warm all year round Access is almost entirely by air – about three hours flying time from London - or the occasional day-trip cruise liner One of the most popular past times is walking among the stark volcanic landscape.

Click here to read full article at Property Frontiers.

Hong Kong Eight-Month New Home Sales Pass 2008

Aug 24, 2009 

Hong Kong’s sales of new private homes in the first eight months of 2009 may have exceeded those during all of last year, Centaline Property Agency Ltd. said.

The number of new non-government-built residential units changing hands may have risen to 10,926 from 9,955 for the whole of 2008, Centaline, one of the city’s biggest real estate agencies, said in a report yesterday. Last year’s figure was the lowest since 1996, the realtor said in January. 

Click here to read full article at Bloomberg.

New Zealand spring real estate market rise expected to be slight

Sep. 1, 2009

Residential property prices have stabilised following three months of steady asking prices but the traditional spring market recovery is predicted to be only mild this year. 


The average asking price for New Zealand residential properties was unchanged in August from the previous month, according to the latest research from real estate listings website realestate.co.nz.

In August 2009, the average asking price was $397,000, a slight rise from $396,000 in July and compared with $403,000 in June 2009.

“This reflects a stable market with no signs of heated property price inflation,” realestate.co.nz chief executive Alistair Helm said.

Click here to read full article at The National Business Review.

IMF warns Oz property prices are too high

Residential property prices in Australia are overvalued by as much as 20% and could end up plunging the country into recession and bring massive losses to the banks, according to a new report from the International Monetary Fund.

In recent months the property market in Australia has been recovering with an increase in prices and sales. But the IMF's annual review of the Australian economy identifies high levels of mortgage debt as the biggest risk that the economy faces over the coming year. 

Click here to read full article at Property Wire.

Calls for regulatory body for real estate industry in India

August 7, 2009

The real estate industry in India is calling for a national property regulatory body to make the profession more transparent and deal with the increasing number of complaints.

It is felt that as the property markets show sign of recovery and economic forecasts for 2009 are better than expected, then sales are likely to increase and therefore the number of problems.

Click here to read full article at Property Wire.

Better Homes to open operations in Doha, Qatar

Sunday, 26 July 2009, 

Dubai, UAE – Better Homes, the region’s largest real estate agency, will launch a new office in Qatar by Q4 2009. Operating under the Mohammed Hamid Al Mana Group of Companies, Better Homes Qatar opens in response to growth in the Qatari commercial and residential property market.

The BH Qatar portfolio will begin with the management of the Al Azizya Complex, a retail mall that includes a 90 villa compound, 50 apartments and 37 retail shops; additional ongoing projects including The Pearl, Lusail, and a wide range of apartments and offices.

“Qatar is currently one of the fastest growing cities in the world and was selected as the next Better Homes international office opening, part of a series of international roll out plans”, said Ryan Mahoney, Managing Director, Better Homes. 

Chinese real estate recovery could presage cash rush

July 17, 2009

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A nascent housing market rebound and a rally in shares could trigger a new round of cash raising by Chinese developers, eager to replenish coffers to meet rising demand, spurred by Beijing's economic stimulus measures.

The past few weeks have seen a steady stream of property firms eyeing IPOs, bond and share placements in anticipation of a real estate recovery. But experts caution that new investors could be left in the cold if the fragile recovery fizzles out.

"If more fund raisings continue, it will surely put pressure on the stock prices which may trigger a correction in the short term," said Davina Tang, a senior fund manager AT Guotai Junan Assets (Asia).

"But we're still positive on China's property market in the long run due to the increasing disposable income of households."

Click here to read full article at Reuters.

Real (estate) bargains

July 4, 2009

Barney York and Lyndsey Steven met in Dubai after moving there in 2005 from the UK. Three years later, the couple were engaged.

The next step, they decided, was to buy their first property in the city. But this part didn’t go to plan. The couple are now renting a three-bedroom apartment in Satwa, and they have no plans to move. Instead, they are seeking a real estate investment abroad. 

Please click here to read the full article at The National.

Gulf investors eye property in West

June 25, 2009

Millionaires in the Middle East are looking at real estate and fixed-income instruments globally this year and the next to overcome the worst year for investments, a senior investment banker said yesterday in Dubai.

"Commercial real estate in the US and Europe have already witnessed some fund flows from high and ultra high net worth individuals in the Middle East," Amir Sadr, Head of Middle East Wealth Management at Merrill Lynch, said yesterday in response to a question by Emirates Business.

Please click here to read the full article at Emirates Business.

Market Overview - Chile

June 23, 2009

“There has been a major pull-back in the real estate market here,” said Charles Spencer, co-owner of Spencer Global Consulting, a law firm in Temuco, Chile, that represents buyers in real estate transactions and advises foreigners seeking to relocate to Chile.

Please click here to learn more about the Chilean market at New York Times.

Slovakia's Surprising Financial Strength

June 11, 2009

Thanks to its fiscal prudence, Slovakia's economy is relatively healthy. But troubled neighbors could keep foreign investors from rewarding it.

Jan Rollo, CEO of Slovenska Sporitelna, Slovakia's largest bank, has a problem you don't encounter too much these days. While banks worldwide struggle to raise capital, Slovenksa Sporitelna, a unit of Vienna-based Erste Group, has more money in deposits than it does in outstanding loans. "We're long on deposits," Rollo says with a wry smile in his eighth-floor office on the outskirts of Bratislava.

Please click here to read the full article at Spiegel Online International. 

Bargain hunting?

June 5, 2009

Lower prices tempt buyers back into the most depressed markets

PROPERTY values are slumping in almost all of the 19 countries in The Economist's latest global house-prices survey. The trend is most persistent in America, where prices in the first quarter were 19.1% lower than a year before, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller national index. That is the biggest drop since the series began in 1987. The number of completed deals rose by 2.9% in April.

Please click here to read the full article at The Economist.

 

First time buyer credit having impact on US property market as pending sales increase

June 4, 2009 

The US government's $8,000 first time buyer tax credit is having an impact on the depressed property market with pending home sales up for the third month in a row, according to the latest figures.

The number of buyers signing sales contracts in April rose 6.7% from March, the figures from the National Association of Realtors show.

Analysts believe that first time buyers are rushing to take advantage of the tax credit. To qualify they need to complete the purchase of their property by the end of November this year.

Please click here to read the full article at Property Wire.

 

Financial crisis stings British living abroad

May 30, 2009

LASSAY-LES-CHÂTEAUX, France — A stumbling British economy is doing what the French have not been able to do in 200 years: rout the British.

For more than a decade, Englishmen have been one of Britain’s biggest cross-channel exports: they bought second homes in French villages, or even retired there. They came to make up as much as one-fifth of the population in some French villages.

But now the flow of Britons is slowing and, in some cases, reversing course.

Only instead of bidding them a relieved adieu, many of the French are longing for them — and their money — to stay. 

Please click here to read the full article at The New York Times. 

Higher Traffic to New Zealand Real Estate Website suggests influx

May 26, 2009

The New Zealand real estate industry website is attracting increased international traffic, indicating a potential influx of overseas jobseekers, its administrators say.

In the year to April, Realestate.co.nz had a 14 per cent increase in overseas viewers looking at the houses for sale section, recording 134,604 hits last month.

International traffic to the site's rental property section increased 17 per cent in the year to April, to 25,902 hits for the month.

Please click here to read the full article at The Sydney Morning Herald. 

Please click here to view our selection of New Zealand Property.
 

Real estate investors see opportunities in Asian markets

May 19, 2009 

SINGAPORE: Global real estate investors are looking to tap on to growing opportunities in Asian markets.

Experts speaking at an industry event, Cityscape Asia 2009, in Singapore on Tuesday said China currently offers the most potential.

This is due to a number of good valuations available in the market, and the economy's positive growth outlook.

Please click here to read the full article at ChannelNewsAsia.com.


 

Low Cost Housing in India furthered by Tata Group

May 7, 2009

After Rs 1-lakh people’s car Nano, the Tatas on Wednesday unveiled a low-cost realty project which offers a house for less than Rs 4 Lakhs (just under 30,000 dirhams). Tata Housing, the real estate development arm of the Tatas, will build one-room-kitchen flats for just Rs 3.91 lakh in a township being developed at Boisar, 100 km from Mumbai...

Please click here to read the full article at Indian Realty News.

Better Homes Releases State of the Market Report for Property in Dubai

Better Homes has partnered with the research expertise of Investment Boutique, working for several months to develop a comprehensive examination and forecast of the Dubai real estate market. This report – State of the Market 2009 – was released on April 29th, and is available now.

his is the first time Better Homes has engaged this sort of exhaustive market study and with it aims to provide valuable clarity to market observers during these turbulent times. Expect to see some good news, expect to see some bad news, but most importantly expect to see some prudent guidance for the coming quarters. The 40+ page State of the Market 2009 will be available as a whole or in four individual sections:

* Residential
* Commercial
* Hospitality
* Retail

Stay tuned to bhomes.com for more information and be sure to mark down April 29th for the release. The report will be available for download from the website on the release date. Better Homes is offering this research at a low price in order to make it affordable for a wide audience. Each section of State of the Market 2009 will be offered at AED 275/- and the full report at AED 950/- (over a 30% discount). The full report will include an extra section analyzing the macro-economic environment in more detail.

To grab your State of the Market 2009 Report, please click here.  

Caribbean eases restrictions to attract foreign property investors

May 2, 2009

Some Caribbean islands are easing restrictions for foreign property investors and introducing incentives in a bid to attract more luxury buyers.

The number of rich real estate investors have dropped over the last six months as the global economic situation is affecting those seeking prime property in the Caribbean.

Please click here to read the full article at PropertyWire.