〈Asian Post, August 25, 2018〉IN the debate on land supply, there are groups in both the pro-establishment camp and the pan-democratic camp that advocate expanding Hong Kong's territory. They suggest that the HKSAR government should seek the central government's approval to carry out large scale land reclamation in mainland waters neighbouring Hong Kong. The reclaimed land can then be leased or turned over to Hong Kong. Faced with insufficient land supply, the only way to bring about long term stability and prosperity in Hong Kong is to reclaim land from the sea. However, Hong Kong is able to deal with its own problems. We should not entertain the notion of taking advantage of others and expect the central government to shower Hong Kong with favour.

On the surface, "leasing the sea from the mainland to create land" is the easy way out. In reality, it is to shift the responsibility for solving Hong Kong's land problem onto the central government and to turn internal conflicts of Hong Kong into conflicts between the central government and Hong Kong. Whether the central government supports the idea or not, it will give rise to controversies which are not good for either Hong Kong or the mainland.

Leasing the mainland's territorial waters to create land by reclamation may sound attractive initially, and Macao has set the precedent. However, the size of the Macao SAR is only 1/38 of that of Hong Kong. It did not even have its own territorial waters when it was established and must seek the central government's approval for any reclamation project.

For Macao, the only way to solve its problem on a long-term basis is for the central government to turn part of the mainland's territorial waters over to Macao. In comparison, Hong Kong absolutely has the space and capability to reclaim land from the sea on its own. According to the East Lantau Metropolis artificial island plan, as long as the HKSAR government has the determination, Hong Kong is able to reclaim 1,000 hectares and even 2,000 hectares of land from the sea.

〈London Mail, August 24, 2018〉London attracted more investment than Paris, Munich and Frankfurt combined, boosted by a flood of cash from Asia, according to research by Knight Frank.

And in a sign that demand remains strong, Goldman Sachs this week sold its vast Plumtree Court scheme in the City for ￡1.2bn to South Korea's National Pension Service. The US banking giant will lease the site back for 25 years.

The building will be Goldman's new European headquarters when it opens next year.

Goldman Sachs vice-president Richard Gnodde said the long lease 'demonstrates our continued commitment to London'. The surge of investment in London property -- and the commitment from Goldman -- makes a mockery of doom laden warnings from Remain campaigners that London will suffer due to Brexit.

The report by Knight Frank showed London is the top city in the world for international property investment.

Some of the biggest deals this year have included the purchase of the 'Groundscraper' at 5 Broadgate by CK Asset Holdings -- part of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's empire -- for ￡1bn, as well as Singapore-based Ho Bee Land's move for Ropemaker Place, at ￡650m.

Over the same period, Hong Kong attracted ￡5bn of investment while Paris trailed with ?.9bn. Of investment around the world, Asian investors dominated, pouring ￡4.4bn into deals.

Nick Braybrook, of Knight Frank, said: 'Despite the political turmoil surrounding the UK with Brexit, London is once again the most liquid real estate market in the world.

〈China Daily, August 23, 2018〉Nan Fung Development has become the second Hong Kong developer to sell new homes below market price as the property sector in the world's least affordable city starts to feel the effects of rising interest rates, cooling measures and a slowing mainland economy.

Housing policies announced by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in late June, including a tax on new flats that remain vacant, had played a part in weakening developers' aggressiveness in pricing homes, according to analysts.

Nan Fung is offering the first batch of 487 flats at its LP6 project in Tseung Kwan O next month at HK$15,304 per square foot, 3 per cent lower than the average price at the nearby 1,600-unit Malibu project that started selling in March. It is as much as 30 per cent lower than some units at Malibu sold this month, according to Dataelement, which monitors sales of new flats in Hong Kong.

The warning bell signalling a possible end to the city's 15-year home price rally has begun to ring louder, with many experts predicting a drop in prices.

Last week, Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong's biggest developer, said it had cut the prices of homes at its Cullinan West II development atop Nam Cheong MTR station in Kowloon by as much as 10 per cent, the second time in less than a month.

In a report issued on Monday, investment bank CLSA predicted home prices would drop 15 per cent over the next 12 months, joining Citibank and UBS in forecasting a sharp downturn.

Victor Mak, director and general manager of property at Nan Fung, said: "We considered the [policies] when pricing. There are a lot of flats at the development so [we] wanted to set prices that are not aggressive. We hope to clear stock next month soon ."

〈The Standard, August 22, 2018〉As the us-china trade war rages and even as banks raise mortgage rates, prices of new flats remain reasonable, thus exerting pressure on the secondary home market.

Sammy Po Siu-ming, chief executive of Midland Realty's residential division, said owners may continue putting flats up for sale as property values have appreciated over the years.

Selling properties now and not later may also help them avoid risks amid uncertain economic prospects.

Po said prices in the secondary market are still restrained as developers continue to offer flats at reasonable prices.

Prices in the primary market have risen by about 10 percent in the first half. Meanwhile, sales and purchase transactions in the secondary market were more brisk than activity in the first hand market.

Some developers are rushing to sell completed but unsold flats to avoid paying the vacancy tax, imposed recently by the government.

Last month, a total of 1,740 transactions in the first-hand market were recorded, up 46.7 percent from 814 in January. A total of 4,048 flats changed hands last month in the secondary market, down from 4,144 in January.

Derek Chan, head of research at Ricacorp Properties, said home-rental activity and rents are expected to rise further in the coming months after a flurry of transactions in July.

〈The Standard, August 21, 2018〉K Wah International Holdings said its interim underlying profit plunged to just HK$32 million from HK$1.293 billion a year earlier due to its failure to book property sales from various projects in the first half of this year.

Basic earnings per share stood at HK$18.88, down from HK$73.06 a year earlier. An interim dividend of 6 HK cents per share has been proposed. Its share price closed 1.14 percent lower at HK$4.33.

The developer said unrecognized sales in the first half amounted to HK$18.5 billion, mainly from several new residential projects in Hong Kong, including K. City in Kai Tak and Solaria in Pak Shek Kok in Tai Po.

K Wah said it obtained only this month the occupation permit for K. City after filing the application for certificate of compliance. It aims to deliver flats in this project within the year. Sales from this project are expected to reach HK$9.2 billion.

The developer, headed by chairman Lui Che-woo, also has unrecognized revenue from various projects in China. These include The Palace in Shanghai, The Peak and Royal Creek in Nanjing, J Metropolis and Le Palais in Guangzhou, as well as Silver Cove in Dongguan.