Archive for Market News

Mainland buyers rush to snap up Hong Kong luxury

What may come to no surprise to some is that mainland buyers are increasingly snapping up Hong Kong luxury properties recently.
1 in 5 luxury properties in the island city (a property sold at higher than 10 Million Hong Kong Dollars is considered luxury) comes from the mainland now.
The more accurate figure is 18.1 % according to Centaline Property Agency or Zhong Yuan.

Since the downturn in 2008 more and more Mainlanders rush to the island to buy bargains deemed good investment.

Shanghai itself has slowed down a bit and transaction volume is siginifcantly lower.

It’ll be interesting to see what comes after the holidays.

Happy chinese new year everyone, may the year of the tiger bring health and success to all of you.

Filed under: China Real Estate, Market News, Trends | , , , , |1 Comment

Shanghai Real Estate news update

Hello 2010!
I hope that all of you, as I had a great ride into the new year, excited to see what 2010 brings, especially in our fantastic Shanghai!

1.32 Billion RMB

…thats what Shanghai’s Gubei Developement Group paid for block B7 and B8 or roughly 33 acres in Shangha’s tourist town Zhujiajiao (or little venice).
146%  price increase, and they beat out 14 other competitors, congratulations!

298100
Is the new record of 2nd hand houses sold during one year in Shanghai. And
it was last year!
320.7 Billion Rmb was the transaction volume of these apartments and houses not including
new developements, also a record.

14.5 Million Rmb

…is what Shanghai’s hero Liu Xiang paid for a 436 sqm Villa in Putuo.  Roughly 33′000 Rmb per square meter.
The olympic gold medalist will surely bring lot’s of attention to one of the hottest Shanghai districts these days.

Filed under: Market News, Shanghai Real Estate News, Trends | , , , , |1 Comment

Shanghai Property markets continue to climb up, and a new kind of speculator has emerged

Shanghai’s Real Estate Market climbed another 3.9% in October after briefly slowing down in September this year.
Real Estate investment in the city is up 19% for the year and the total transaction volume is up nearly 50% for the year.

Prices also rose 56% year on year and news about an interest hike have not slowed the run on shanghainese properties yet.

With prices escalating into the clouds and new loan rules tied together with the profit taxes introduced in 2005 it’s become a lot harder for speculators to flip properties for profit in the city.

But, as always, Shanghai’s property people found a way. Several people are getting on the boat to place downpayments on hot new luxury properties like the Bund Summit (or Bound on the Bund now).
I read on sh.focus.cn that speculators make the downpayment, pay the broker and wait for somebody to take the bill of their hands for an “extra fee” of 500k to even 1.2 Million Rmb in one case.
The bet seems to pay off, 43 property transactions and counting for the 60 thousand Renminbi per square meter luxury development on Shanghai’s Bund.

Filed under: China Real Estate, Market News, Shanghai Real Estate News, Trends | , , , , |2 Comments

Prices jump more than 10% in a day after good Disney news

Disney apparently got the heads up this week from Shanghai authorities for Pudong’s Disney World and according to the local real estate brokerages on chuansha road property prices averaged up 1000 Rmb in the same day.
Not all is finalized but there seems to be only formalities standing before Mickey’s feet touching down on the other side of the river.
The theme park is set to lift prizes in the area and will span more than 4 times the size of Disney Land Hong Kong.

It is estimated that Shanghai’s Disney Land will cost around 3.5 Billion US$ to build.

Filed under: China Real Estate, Market News, Shanghai Real Estate News, Trends | , , , , |1 Comment

Li Ka Shing ready to sell seasons villa’s after renovation

After holding the seasons villa’s for many years Li Ka Shing’s property arm has started pre-selling seasons villa’s online.

28 of the 141 Villa’s for sale have already been sold (at a 77907 RMB per square meter average) and it seems like they’re just warming up for when the properties are officially rolled out into the market once the renovations finish.

The Online sales report a total of 43 units sold already and Li Ka Shing seems to trade property for cash having not bought another block of land since last year.

Other property investors coming under pressure through the recent record acquisitions will likely keep a close eye on Li.

Is it a smart move?

First of all, would you want to bet against the richest chinese man alive?

For that you have to know what he’s betting on.
Does he think the shanghai market is overheated and is thus, withdrawing funds?

Li has been known for his shrewd timing more than for taking risks.

Or, is he simply doing good business elsewhere?
Hutchinson has immense operations throughout the country with countless developements and affiliations.
More than once were people trying to figure out what they’re up to next only to find out once the deal is done.

Transaction volume was down 5.8% last month but is still multiple times that of last year and supply is still not enough to relax buyers in premium areas just yet.
The market has moved up for the past 10 months and it may do so for a little longer but it seems like the craze created by the massive influx of funds has started to slow down and things are normalizing again.

I know better than calling wolf again, chinese buyers will continue to move for property and a big downturn in the likes of vegas or miami are unlikely but the shanghainese property investors may soon turn to their hold, wait and see mode once again.

Filed under: China Real Estate, Market News, Shanghai Real Estate News | , , , |No Comments

Shanghai Holiday Property Fair nets 2.23 Billion Rmb in 4 Days

Shanghais Holiday property fair which was held for 4 days during the holiday has received downpayments for 1379 Apartments totaling a  transaction volume worth 2.23 Billion Rmb.

The average price per square meters of the “sold” properties was roughly 20′000 Rmb a significant rise to the 12000 Rmb average price of last years fair.

The fair who nets a commission on places sold, was also more successful than the may fair who sold 1103 Apartments.

Filed under: China Real Estate, Market News, Shanghai Real Estate News | , , , |No Comments

Shanghai’s Green Land Group buys Long Hua Road No 1960

Shanghai’s Green Land Group has undermined once again they are the kings of the cities real estate deals.
They have bought 1960 Long Hua Road (Xuhui District) lot for 7.245 Billion Rmb (27231 Rmb per sqm) more than double the current per square meter price of the area (average for apartments, not land).

The Area around 1960 Long Hua Road is under heavy construction and close to Xujiahui and the Huangpu River (the expo site is about 20 minutes away).

It’s a strategic water front area and reports hint that the group plans to built smaller apartments for the growing middle class in the city.

Filed under: China Real Estate, Developements, Market News, Shanghai Real Estate News | , , , , |No Comments

Rentals don’t follow prices up

Shanghai Real Estate has been on a real run alongside the stock index this year.
Though volume has slumped prices hold up pretty well and most recently have hit new highs in many commercial centers such as Xujiahui and Xintiandi.

Why the market moves up can be argued with a lot of reasons.
What has struck me about this “real estate rally” is that there is no correlation with the rental prices.
I’ve looked back in our database back to 2005 and have found that in many cases rents actual move opposite directions.

It could be that the two are not as interconnected as previously thought, and it could also mean that the market is healthier now than before, meaning that lower rents and no rents don’t force landlords to sell the property prematurely.

I compared our database and rents were a lot higher in 2005 then they were in 2004, they also went up in 2006 when the sales market stalled.
Yet in 2007 they were virtually the same.

In 2008 rents went down from 2007, mainly because of the panic resulting from the massive failures on wall street (like bear stearns).
Interestingly the stock market came down in a craze too but sales were stronger.
They’re still moving up until today yet rentals have come down from 2008 but are a little  bit higher than in the beginning of 2009.

I link more of those to emotions, places don’t stay empty, they get rented out, fast, I would even say quicker than before.
But, Companies have more negotiation leverage, the economy is bad, and they pressuring landlords into lower prices now, and it works, mainly because landlords are letting others worry them.

Filed under: China Real Estate, Market News, Market Theory, Trends | , , , , |No Comments

Eh, I think I got the handle of it, high demand but dropping prices

So, I thought about this a long time, because it didn’t make any sense.
I tried to explain, and yet, still, it didn’t make any sense.

Places rent fast these days, even quicker than last year, and there isn’t a lot of desirable properties available, at least in the French Concession.

I guess it’s fear, now for the first time, renters actually are forced to negotiate harder, and have more confidence to do so, Landlords hear bad news all around, and though it may be one of their first visitors that take the place they are willing to accept offers way below last years price.

There are still bidding wars, but they usually start way below and still end up below the last  rental.
I think it’s a healthy adjustment, it gets people to move out of several reasons.
Some couldn’t get their current place down to a rent they find fair in the current market condition, and some just found out about the great deals available now.

Filed under: Market News, Shanghai Real Estate News, Trends | , , , |No Comments

New Record! Shanghai Shimao Sheshan Club sells Villa at 205 Million RMB

 


Shimao Sheshan Villa's

Shimao Sheshan Villa

Shanghai’s Sheshan Shimao Country Club Developement just broke the news that they completed the sale of two villa’s.
One of the two sets a new record as most expensive personal residence in China. It set it’s buyer back for a hefty 205 Million Rmb or about 30 Million US$. The other smaller unit sold also cost an impressive 155 Million Rmb.
Though these are china’s most expensive residences buy total price, it’s actually very “cheap” if you think about it in per square meter price.
The bigger unit is about 26400 Square meters large which  puts the per square meter price at only 7700 Rmb.
Now that’s a real bargain considering many of the downtowns luxury residences commanding as much as 120′000 per square meter.
Also, the latest statistics also report a 38% spike in transaction volume, though I doubt that’s the market recovering, I’m glad to have some good news in all this turmoil.
For luxury properties this number is actually even higher, 45% for the month and 72% ytd.  

Check out the official Shimao Sheshan Villa Website. 40 Acre Domiciles in Shanghai sound like a way to live!

Filed under: China Real Estate, Developements, General News, Market News, Shanghai Real Estate News | , , , , , , |No Comments

« Previous Entries||Next Entries »