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Monthly Archives: September 2009

HK property on the fast track to recovery

Posted on 29 Sep 2009 | Comments Off

Home prices 26% up this year, erasing Q4 ’08 post-Lehman loss

Hedge fund manager Pan Lin Feng and two friends sensed opportunity when Hong Kong property prices plunged 20 per cent last year after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc collapsed.

In November, they bought a 1,500 square foot apartment, more than double the size of a typical Hong Kong flat, in the affluent Mid-Levels district for HK$9.8 million (S$1.8 million) from an owner shoring up stock and property losses. In July, the trio was offered HK$15 million.

‘It was a good deal,’ Mr Pan, 33, said. ‘It was real luck and everyone has benefited since.’

Hong Kong home prices are up 26 per cent this year, erasing losses posted between the Sept 15, 2008 demise of Lehman Brothers and Dec 31, 2008, according to the weekly Centa-City Leading Index. Mainland Chinese buyers and record mortgage rates lower than London and New York enabled Hong Kong to recover while the other financial centres struggle.

Hong Kong is the world’s fifth-most expensive residential real estate market, after Monte Carlo, Moscow, London and Tokyo, according to Global Property Guide. Continue reading →

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Posted in Overseas Property

Tagged Hong Kong Property, Hong Kong Property Market

Weak demand for factory space

Posted on 29 Sep 2009 | Comments Off

Sales of industrial space are at their lowest since 2000, while rents slide, but the worst may be over, says DOMINIC PETERS

WHILE most economic indicators point to an improvement, the industrial property market remains depressed today as the weak business environment is likely to persist, with global demand still subdued. The first eight months of the year saw 436 industrial sale transactions, a drop of more than 45 per cent from the corresponding period last year, according to caveats lodged. This is the lowest volume since 2000.

Weak demand for industrial space continues to weigh on industrial rents and prices this year. The average monthly rents of Savills’ basket of prime flatted factories and warehouses in central Singapore slid lower in Q3. Flatted factories saw rents slip to S$1.35 – S$1.65 per sq ft, from $1.70 – $2.00 psf in Q4 2008. Warehouses saw a slide from $1.70 – $2.10 psf at the end of 2008, to S$1.25 – S$1.55 psf.

High-tech industrial rents are also experiencing downward pressure as relocation of office users to high-tech industrial space slows down. Office users are now less inclined to relocate to high-tech industrial space as asking office rents in the CBD have fallen significantly and office landlords keen to retain their existing tenants are offering extras like rental concessions and fitting out costs. Consequently, average monthly high-tech rents fell from a high of S$2.50 – S$3.80 psf in 2008 to S$2.40 – S$3.20 psf recently. For instance, monthly asking rents of high-tech industrial space in city-fringe areas like Frontech Centre dipped from about S$4 psf in Q1 to S$3.60 per sq ft in August. Continue reading →