In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, Singapore apartment rents deliver a hot streak of 21 straight monthly increases, some well-known institutional investors race to buy a stake in an Indian logistics firm, and China Evergrande’s Hong Kong trophy headquarters faces the uphill task of finding a buyer.

Singapore Apartment Rents Soar 31% Amid Property Curbs

Singapore’s rental market could get even hotter due to the latest property curbs and a tightening housing supply.

Rents for private apartments have soared nearly 31 percent by September compared with a year ago, jumping for 21 consecutive months, according to data from real estate portals 99.co and SRX. Read more>>

CPPIB, Temasek, EQT Vie for Stake in India’s JM Baxi Ports & Logistics

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Singapore’s Temasek Holdings and Swedish buyout firm EQT are among the suitors in separate talks to acquire a significant minority stake in JM Baxi Ports & Logistics, owned by the eponymous Mumbai-based group.

The company is planning to raise INR 3,000-3,300 crore ($350 million-$400 million), including INR 1,200-1,500 crore by selling fresh shares, people with knowledge of the matter said. Existing investor Bain Capital will sell the remaining shares, they said. Read more>>

Creditors Seek to Drum Up Demand for Evergrande’s Hong Kong Trophy

The Hong Kong headquarters of troubled China Evergrande Group, recently put up for sale by receivers, is hoping to woo buyers with the prospect of building a higher tower on the spot overlooking Victoria Harbour.

“If the new buyer chooses to rebuild the tower, the new building could stretch 135 metres high from the current 98 metres (322 feet), or about 33 storeys with more sea-view floors,” said Godfrey Cheng, deputy senior director at Savills Hong Kong, the sole agent mandated by the receivers of the property. Read more>>

China Home Prices to Keep Falling as Investors Lose Confidence: PBOC Poll

Chinese investors see no let-up in the depression that has engulfed the country’s property market, according to an official survey that is sure to heap more misery onto beleaguered developers and homeowners.

Just 14.8 percent of respondents in a consumer survey by the People’s Bank of China believe that home prices could rise in the fourth quarter of this year. The remaining 85.2 percent are betting that prices will either drop or stagnate. Read now>>

Hong Kong Developers Lobby Government to End Cooling Measures

Hong Kong property developers and agents are lobbying the government to scrap legacy stamp duties to avoid pushing homeowners into negative equity amid slumping home prices, a clarion call that is being dismissed by analysts.

The city’s 1.4 million private property owners could face negative equity — when a home loan exceeds the market value of the property — if home prices fall further, said Stewart Leung, executive committee chairman of the Real Estate Developers Association, which represents the city’s biggest developers. Read more>>

Singapore’s Mass Market Condo Sales Expected to Remain Firm

While the latest round of property cooling measures will impact HDB flat owners’ ability to upgrade to private housing, the effect on mass market homes may not be as great as some might think.

This is because while HDB upgraders make up a significant 39.9 percent of buyers of all non-landed Outside Central Region private homes — the mass market segment often cited as being most dependent on upgraders — those with a private address contribute to 45.2 percent of transactions. Read more>>

Bangkok Prime Office Vacancy Rate Set to Surge Next Year

The vacancy rate of prime-grade offices in central Bangkok is expected to almost double to 30 percent next year, the highest since 1997, largely because of the influx of future supply, creating pressure on existing Grade C office space.

Michael Glancy, country head of JLL Thailand, said vacancy rates of Grade A offices in Bangkok’s central area will peak in 2023-24 as a wave of new supply arrives with 226,314 square metres in 2023 and 174,414 square metres in 2024. “With influx of supply, the office market next year will see the highest vacancy rate since 1997,” Glancy said. “The rate that year was 36 percent.” Read more>>

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