By Hu Yuanyuan (China Daily) – BEIJING – China’s property market has seen soaring investment from foreign institutional investors, driven by strong expectations of renminbi appreciation this year.

According to international real estate advisor CB Richard Ellis, the value of en bloc property transactions in 15 Chinese cities has hit 49.9 billion yuan ($7.36 billion) in the first-half of this year, among which 19.4 billion yuan came from foreign institutional investors, 10.2 billion yuan from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao, and the remaining 20.3 billion yuan from mainland investors.

Total investments in the first six months of this year were almost five-fold of those from the same period of last year.

“Affected by the financial crisis, foreign investors were inactive last year and domestic investors dominated the market. But due to better liquidity and expectations of renminbi appreciation, the situation is just the opposite this year,” said Danny Ma, senior director of CB Richard Ellis Research China.

Industry experts say the renminbi will probably appreciated 3 percent this year.

LaSalle Investment Management, a US-based real estate fund, for instance, has been actively seeking opportunities in China, particularly in second-tier cities. Though the fund raised $2 billion last year, it made no investments at all in 2009. But top management said that they will definitely reach a deal in China this year.

“We are now in talks with several projects in the commercial and industrial sectors,” Eric Au, China director of LaSalle told China Daily on Thursday.

For Matt Brailsford, Deputy Managing Director of Savills Beijing, their foreign clients have shown much stronger interest in investing in China’s properties, mainly in the office and retail sector.

“But there is no big increase of new faces in market, most of them remain those from Hong Kong and the United States,” said Brailsford. – read more at ChinaDaily.com…

Visitors look at property models at the Shanghai real estate fair.

April 14, 2010 (People’s Daily Online) – A total of 62 new property projects will start pre-sale in Shanghai in April, up 63 percent month-on-month. Analysts said the significant growth resulted from the developer’s fears over tightening policies that may be introduced if prices remain too high.

“As of this Tuesday, 62 new projects are expected to be released by the end of April, and 15 of them have already started pre-sale,” said Xue Jianxiong, an analyst with Nasdaq-listed China Real Estate Information Corp (CRIC).

The momentum started in late March, when 619,000 square meters of new housing was made available from March 20 to 27, accounting for 88.5 percent of the total in the month.

“Usually, the best season for property sales is May and June, and in each peak season, the new projects released won’t exceed 40,” said Xue.

“The last four days of March saw average sales of more than 1,000 every day, marking the beginning of the new sales season, which will last throughout April and May,” said Ma Ji, a consulting manager with Centaline Property Agency Ltd in Shanghai.

“However, if the price stays at a high rate, the trade volume will not be able to pick up. In such circumstances, further tightening policies from the central government are inevitable,” Ma said.

As the host city of the World Expo, the authorities in Shanghai have required all construction sites to suspend work within an area of 25 sq km of the Expo.

But analysts said the recent explosive growth in the number of projects recently released has little to do with the restriction.

“Only a limited amount of residential projects are included in the 25 sq km area, and most of these are luxury housing. Actually, developers have made good preparations to cope with the new regulation,” said Michael Klibaner, head of research at Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Shanghai. – read more at People’s Daily Online…

The Singapore real estate market shows no signs of cooling off

Agence France-Presse (via Taiwan News) – Singapore’s housing sector is still sizzling despite government measures to cool it down, with demand fueled by a strong economy and foreign investor confidence, analysts say.

Hefty price tags have not dented the market, with buyers flocking to pre-construction sales offering blank cheques to reserve condominium units which they expect to rise sharply in value after the projects are finished.

All 202 units at a private condominium in the central business district – costing 1.2 million-2.0 million Singapore dollars (US$870,000-US$1.4 million ) – were snapped up in just one day at a preview in March, agents said.

About 25 percent of the 56 multi-million-dollar units offered at an invitation-only event at an exclusive waterfront development, The Residences at W Singapore Sentosa Cove, were bought in just one weekend preview.

Waterfront homes boasting unobstructed sea views, marketed as the ultimate experience in lifestyle living, have been prime among the recent launches.

“The market is driven by confidence fuelled by the recovering economy and employment market, and supported by low interest rates,” Tay Huey Ying, director for research and advisory at property consultancy Colliers International, told reporters.

“Market optimism is also riding high on the anticipated potential for Singapore to rise in prominence in the investment radar of foreigners, particularly the high net-worth individuals and high-rollers, as a result of the opening of the two integrated (casino) resorts in 2010.”

Singapore in February opened its first casino resort complex, which includes Southeast Asia’s first Universal Studios theme park. A second casino built by Las Vegas Sands will open next month.

The city-state, a regional financial center, is also promoting itself as a hub where the world’s growing ranks of multi-millionaires can park their money safely.

Warning of a possible bubble that could derail the economic rebound, the government in February imposed new regulations to stem property prices, and warned it was prepared to take further measures if necessary.

But the move, designed to discourage investors who buy and sell for a quick profit, appears to have had limited impact.

Private home prices rose 5.1 percent in the first quarter from the previous three months, government figures showed.

Although this was slower than the 7.4 percent rise in the previous quarter, property analysts said prices are expected to continue going up for the rest of the year. – read more at Taiwan News…

Reading up on feng shui could improve your financial skills. (CFP)

By Li Tao (China Daily) – HONG KONG: While financial analysts read all sorts of indexes to form a picture of the economy, feng shui experts in Hong Kong are applying their art to a similar end.

Peter So, a popular local feng shui master, is trying to convince undecided investors not to purchase property in Hong Kong until 2015.

So said past experience showed the city’s property prices rising continuously for five years and then falling over the next six. He said prices peaked in 2009, the final year of the last cycle, and were now due to tumble.

“The theory has never been wrong in the past,” said So. “Apartment prices fell in value almost 50 percent between 1986 and 1991 and then rebounded to another high in 1997. They slumped again in 2003 because of the breakout of SARS, and it is acknowledged that property prices have been way up over the past few years, even though the city’s economy was damaged severely by the global financial crisis.”

So said the next bottoming of the property market would occur in 2015 and he had now started saving money ahead of the eventuality.

As to stocks, So eschewed predicting whether it would be a lucrative market or not this year, but advised investors to differentiate odd years from even ones when buying, a tactic he said was effective eight times of 10.

“Though the stock market is volatile, rough fluctuations still can be determined. Generally, the market rises high initially but ends low in odd years. The trend reverses in even years. This is an even year, so investors should consider buying stocks in May or June, when the market will be at the year’s bottom,” said So.

However, just like the mercurial markets, predictions from different feng shui masters vary, sometimes considerably.

Edwin Ma, another local feng shui master, disagrees with So about the city’s property market.

“If I am to make a suggestion to my clients, I will definitely advise them to pour money into the property market this year,” Ma said.

Ma anticipates a flat year in housing prices, but he said it was still worth investing since “in comparison with stocks, property prices are de facto guaranteed to make a fortune, while most stocks were not”.

He added: “The stock market seemed exuberant last year, but it has become the playground only for rich people because profitable stocks were no longer affordable to most ordinary investors.” – read more at ChinaDaily.com…

The rise and rise of the 'rich class' A woman takes a look at a model of a property development in Haikou, Hainan province yesterday. Properties on the island province have become hot targets for the newly-rich Chinese. (China Daily)

Chen is one of the China’s rapidly expanding “rich class”. He has several properties in Beijing, including a grand courtyard house he uses solely to entertain friends and business associates.

The large siheyuan, a traditional house found in the capital’s sprawling hutongs, cost Chen 12 million yuan ($1.75 million), suggesting he is far removed from those who sweat and struggle for years to afford small, humble homes.

China has seen a massive expansion in the rich class in the past five years, according to analysts.

“The country’s fortune is increasing at a skyrocketing speed and is converging toward the rich class,” Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of the Hurun Rich List, told Outlook Weekly.

“The number of people with a personal wealth of more than 1 billion yuan has rapidly risen since 2004. Then, there were 100. In 2009, we discovered that 1,000 people are now in the club.”

A spokesman for the Forbes China Rich List also said the threshold for being among the 400 richest people on the Chinese mainland had risen from 1.22 billion yuan in 2008 to 2.05 billion yuan last year.

The growth in Chinese millionaires alone has attracted interest for multinational companies, including Deutsche Bank AG, which is planning to target more services to China’s rich class, reported the German press.

According to other experts, the rich class is a group with only one thing on their mind: property.

A recent poll of wealthy people in Beijing and Shanghai by the Beijing Youth Daily found most owned at least three properties, while many subscribe to the traditional belief that, if you have money, you should invest in property. – read more at ChinaDaily.com…

Hong Kong clothing retailers threaten to quit Taiwan over tax issue: Taipei – Four Hong Kong clothing retailers are threatening to quit Taiwan over a tax dispute with Taiwan authorities, a press report said Monday. The four Hong Kong retailers – Hang Ten, Giordano, Bossini and BaLeNo – made the threat in a petition to President Ma Ying-jeou, demanding that their names be cleared, or they might withdraw from Taiwan, the United Daily News quoted Lai Shih-pao as saying. (Via China News.)

Hainan to curb ‘whopping housing price’: As of the phenomena that the ‘whopping prices’ for living in hotels in Hainan Province ‘bluff off’ the tourists during the Spring Festival, the government would takes efforts to regulate the market, Wu Kunxiong, deputy director general of the tourism department of Hainan Province said Saturday. The government will strictly crack down on the house speculators and formulate tourism standards to cope with the high prices, according to Wu. (Via Business – People’s Daily Online.)

Revenue From Beijing’s Five-star Hotels Beijing Down 16.9% In 2009: According to data provided by Bureau of Statistics of Beijing, the revenue of star-grade hotels in the city decreased by 9.7% year-on-year in 2009. During the entire year of 2009, star hotels in Beijing made total revenues of CNY21.94 billion, including CNY9.98 billion from guest rooms. (Via ChinaRetailNews.com.)

APEC seeking pathways to Asia-Pacific free trade area: Senior officials from Pacific Rim economies accelerated their efforts Monday to seek ”possible pathways” to a region-wide free trade zone, but fell short of reaching any consensus except to continue necessary work. After a meeting in Hiroshima, where Japan formally took up its chairmanship of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum for 2010, a Japanese official said, ”We already have very sensible analytical studies but also have lots of issues that require further discussions.” (Via Kyodo News (Business).)

Asia leads global march away from easy credit: (HONG KONG) The US Federal Reserve has just kick- started its cautious exit from unprecedented emergency lending measures – but the process has been going on for months in the Asia-Pacific region, underscoring the two-speed path of the global recovery. (Via Business Times Online – All The Headlines.)

50% of sneak preview tickets for Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa casino & theme park snapped up: SINGAPORE: Fifty per cent of the sneak preview tickets to check out Singapore’s first casino and theme park were snapped up when they went on sale on Friday, despite the fact that none of the 20 rides and shows at Universal Studios will be ready. (Via Channel NewsAsia Singapore News.)

McDonald’s To Open Hamburger University In Shanghai: As a celebration of the 20th anniversary of McDonald’s entry into the Chinese market, the international fast food giant has announced plans to launch a new hamburger university in Shanghai, the company’s seventh worldwide, making the city a new human resources training base for McDonald’s in Asia Pacific.(Via ChinaRetailNews.com.)

Shanghai Watch Looks To Join Ranks Of Elite Brands: Although most of the world’s top watchmakers remain cozily ensconced within the borders of Switzerland, as with most luxury industries ‘the Chinese are coming’…in this case, to reinvent a brand better known for gracing the wrists of Mao Zedong and Zhou En’lai than Donald Trump or Warren Buffett. (Though the latter might be more open to it than we might assume.) This brand, Shanghai Watch (上海手表厂), started producing watches in the mid-1950s, amid a flurry of activity in the Shanghai wristwatch industry, and quickly established itself as the country’s top watchmaker. (Via Jing Daily :.)

Toyota president to testify before U.S. congressional panels: Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda would testify before U.S. congressional committees on massive recalls of Toyota vehicles if he is formally asked to do so, Toyota officials said Friday. The automaker is hoping that if Toyoda appears in person at congressional hearings, it would help to revive trust in Toyota’s vehicles amid growing criticism of the automaker in the United States, they said. (Via Kyodo News (Business).)

Chinese snapping up real estate in Japan: Japan’s real estate market may be in a slump, but that is not deterring the Chinese from scooping up properties. Chinese money – that is, from ethnic Chinese living in Japan – is making its presence felt in a big way. A growing number of Chinese residents are turning to real estate investments in major cities as well as rural areas. (AsiaOne) (Via News On Japan.)

Bottega Veneta Opens First Second-Tier Location In Nanjing: Bottega Veneta recently announced the grand opening of their first Nanjing location, the Italian brand’s eighth store on the Chinese mainland. The new store, designed by creative director Tomas Maier, is specially outfitted to showcase what the company calls its ‘dedication to artistry and excellence.’ Though the opening of a new location generally isn’t terribly newsworthy in itself, one interesting facet to this story is that it shows how major luxury brands like Bottega Veneta are becoming more confident about venturing into more second-tier cities. Currently, Bottega Veneta has stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang and Shenzhen — all of which are among the five richest cities in China. The Nanjing store, as the brand’s first foray out of the relative safety of top-tier markets, then is likely a sort of ‘experiment’ before Bottega moves on to other interior cities. Although Nanjing as a city is far from poor, compared to more cosmopolitan markets like Shanghai it is relatively untested as far as luxury retailing is concerned. (Via Jing Daily.)

Li Ka-shing is HK’s richest: Forbes: Li Ka-shing, chairman of Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd, is Hong Kong’s richest person with a net worth of $21.3 billion, Forbes Asia Magazine reported, after his wealth gained $5 billion in the past year. The total net worth of Hong Kong’s 40 richest people swelled to $135 billion, up from $82 billion a year ago, the magazine said. Not one list member is poorer, it said. Still, the list members’ combined wealth remains below its 2008 high of $179 billion. Li Ka-shing’s fortune is less than the magazine’s $32 billion estimate of his wealth in 2008. (Via China – People’s Daily Online.)

First High-end food supermarket opens in Guangzhou: Guangzhou’s first high-end food supermarket named TASTE opened in the China Plaza February 2. Imported apples, pumpkins and baskets filled with various goodies costing 100, 1,000 and 10,000 yuan each respectively attracted attention from numerous customers. Covering an area of 4,300 square meters, the Guangzhou-based TASTE outlet is a fashionable, modern and high-end food supermarket providing a wide range of Chinese and western-style food products. (Via China – People’s Daily Online.)

Guthy-Renker Sets Up China Distribution Agreement: The Chinese marketing company Acorn International Inc. and U.S.-based Guthy-Renker have entered into an exclusive agreement for Acorn to market Sheer Cover cosmetics in China. Under the agreement, Acorn will be Guthy-Renker’s exclusive agent to market and distribute Sheer Cover in China. (Via China Sourcing News.)

Real estate bubble likely in Taipei: expert: (ChinaPost.com.tw) – A housing bubble may plague Taipei City’s real estate sector, which has seen a compound annual average growth of 11 percent, an official with Fitch Ratings warned yesterday. (Via Taiwan Headlines – Business.)