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Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan faces a growing budget shortfall (Getty Images)
The Hong Kong government talks up the housing market and warns of a ballooning budget deficit, with that story leading today’s headline roundup. Also in the news, Seoul office deals record their first annual growth since 2020 and Shanghai lived-in home sales hit a four-year high.
Hong Kong Voices Confidence in Housing Market as Budget Deficit Nears $13M
Hong Kong’s financial secretary has pledged to focus on curbing growth in recurring expenses and prioritising public works to rebalance the budget in the next three to five years, with the government deficit forecast to reach nearly HK$100 billion ($12.9 million).
Paul Chan also said Saturday he “absolutely disagrees” that home prices would definitely fall and reiterated his opposition to resuming land sales via an application list system to ensure the government retained full control over supply. Read more>>
Seoul Office Deals Jumped 79% in 2024 in First Increase in Four Years
The Seoul office market bounced back for the first time in four years in 2024, with transaction volume soaring 78.7 percent to KRW 13.4 trillion ($9.1 billion) from the year before, according to GenstarMate, a South Korean real estate research firm.
Core office buildings in the Gangnam business district and the central business district accounted for 80 percent of transactions, led by The Asset Gangnam, which marked the country’s largest commercial building sale in 2024. Read more>>
Shanghai Second-Hand Home Sales Hit Four-Year High in December
Lived-in home transactions in Shanghai hit a four-year high last month after mainland China’s commercial and financial hub relaxed purchase rules in October to nudge its slumbering property market. But homeowners were still forced to offer discounts of 5 to 10 percent to get deals done amid a bearish economic outlook.
A total of 29,711 pre-owned homes changed hands across the city in December, up 9.8 percent from a month earlier, according to online property consultancy Fangdi.com.cn. It was the highest number since January 2021, when more than 40,000 units found buyers. Read more>>
China Land Sales Fell 20% in 2024 as Developers Cut Back
Land sales across China have fallen to their lowest levels in years, with a nearly 20 percent decline in 2024, underscoring the persistent struggles in the property market that are crippling the ability of developers to expand.
As of 29 December, land sales in 300 Chinese cities totalled 1.38 billion square metres (14.9 million square feet), a 16 percent year-on-year drop, according to data provider China Index Academy. Read more>>
IGIS to Begin Redeveloping Seoul’s Hilton Hotel Site in First Half of This Year
IGIS Asset Management announced Friday that its plans to redevelop the former Hilton Seoul site near Namsan are officially underway, following approval from the Seoul Metropolitan Government earlier in the week. The project, dubbed Iota, will transform the 338,983 square metre (3.6 million square foot) site into a modern, large-scale hub featuring office towers, a six-star hotel, retail spaces and a public green area comprising 40 percent of the site.
Construction is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2025, led by YD427 Project Financing Vehicle in collaboration with Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Shinhan Financial Group. The project will also extend to nearby Metro and Seoullo Towers, expanding the total redevelopment area to 460,000 square metres. Completion is expected by 2030. Read more>>
Singapore REIT Index Generated -6.1% Return in 2024
After a challenging year for Singapore-listed REITs, they ended 2024 in the red, with the iEdge S-REIT Index generating a total return of minus 6.1 percent, inclusive of distributions.
The S-REIT sector is now trading at a price-to-book ratio of 0.84, which represents a discount of 16 percent as compared with its longer-term average. Read more>>
Singapore’s Perennial Confident in Potential of China’s Ageing Wealthy
The task of providing elderly care for the growing number of Chinese baby boomers may be a headache for Beijing, but a Singaporean hospital operator sees it as an evergreen opportunity.
With more than 400 million Chinese set to enter their 60s over the coming decade, Singapore-based Perennial Holdings is betting on sound returns for investors able to meet the demand for premium care and services for this group, who were born in the country’s tumultuous 1960s but fortunate enough to reap the benefits of its stellar economic rise in the past few decades. Read more>>
China’s PBOC Vows to Support Consumption, Innovation
China’s central bank said it will step up financial support for tech innovation and consumption stimulation as part of a continued effort to revive economic growth.
The People’s Bank of China also pledged to explore institutional arrangements to safeguard the capital market — potentially signalling more regular use of two new tools to provide liquidity to the stock market. It reiterated a pledge to lower interest rates and the reserve requirement ratio for banks “at an appropriate time” to promote growth, according to a statement posted on the central bank’s website on Saturday that summarized its annual work meeting. Read more>>
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