〈Asian Post, September 1, 2018〉Sunac China Holdings Ltd, the Chinese mainland’s fourth-largest developer by sales, said the land and home price slowdown is likely to remain, with property regulations also continuing to tighten.

There are no signs that property regulations will be eased in the near future, and the tightening has far exceeded expectations, Sunac’s chairman Sun Hongbin told the media when announcing the company’s interim results on Friday.

He said the company will continue to maintain its cautious and conservative approach to land acquisition in the second half of the year, amid the nation’s property market controls.

Sunac CEO Wang Mengde said the company will remain focused on land expansion in tier-one and tier-two cities, as well as regions surrounding tierone cities.

Sunac acquired 29.2 million square meters of land in the first six months of the year. The developer now owns a total of 231 million square meters.

“Except for mergers and acquisitions, we have not been involved in public land acquisitions in the past two years. To avoid risks, we will continue to control the pace of buying,” Sun said.

He forecast the slower pace of buying would further decrease the company’s net gearing ratio, indicating an improved debt-to-equity ratio.

The developer reported a net gearing ratio of 232 percent on June 30, 2018, decreasing about 24.5 percentage points from the end of last year. Last year, Sun set the target of reducing the company’s net gearing ratio to between 90 percent and 70 percent by 2019.

〈Macau Daily, September 1, 2018〉One of Hong Kong’s biggest co-working leasing deals has added to an explosion in the number and size of such agreements.

Start-up Campfire Collaborative Spaces leased three floors of the Harbourfront Landmark building in western Kowloon from private equity firm Pamfleet Real Estate Fund LP, according to Colliers International Group Inc., which brokered the transaction.

Record co-working deals in Hong Kong in 2018 show their growing role in the office market amid the rise of companies such as WeWork Cos., the U.S. firm reported to have claimed a valuation of $35 billion. Co-working companies accounted for 10 percent of new lettings on Hong Kong Island last year, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.

“For the next six to 12 months, we will continue to see co-working operators expanding in the market,” said Denis Ma, head of Hong Kong research at JLL. “A lot of operators are trying to gain market share because it’s very much a new sector.”

〈China Daily, August 30, 2018〉Midland Holdings chairman warns of growing economic headwinds after cost of HK homes rose by about 12.2 per cent in first half of year

Home prices at leading Hong Kong estates are set to fall 5 per cent in the current quarter, the head of property agency Midland Holdings yesterday said.

This would reverse a rising trend that had seen prices go up by double digits in the first half of the year, chairman Freddie Wong Kin-yip said.

Wong said data for the quarter ending September would likely reveal a new downtrend in prices amid growing economic and financial headwinds.

He was speaking at a media briefing before the company announced its interim results.

"Hong Kong home prices have risen about 12.2 per cent in the first half of the year," Wong said. "Faced with all the headwinds, they will cool down and lose growth momentum after peaking."

He said a rush by developers to unload new flats at prices close to those in the secondary market had been a factor in the softening market.

"Developers sped up flat sales and set prices that are closer to [those of] used homes, causing a plunge in home prices."

Wong also noted that veteran investors such as property tycoon Tang Shing-bor had begun selling down their investment portfolios.

〈The Standard, August 29, 2018〉A group of developers and real estate agents has suggested that the government build container homes on barges near the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal for public housing applicants awaiting allocation.

The recommendation comes less than a month before the Task Force on Land Supply's public consultation ends on September 26.

The Real Property Federation, a group of developers, real estate agents and professionals - such as architects, surveyors and engineers - made six suggestions on land supply.

Its favorite choice was constructing housing on barges, which is not among the 18 options provided by the task force.

The short-term measure proposes that the government construct a "floating city" on barges and place about 400 container homes on each barge. With five levels, 80 container homes would be built on each level.

Each barge would allow 1,600 to 2,000 residents who have applied for public housing and are awaiting allocation.

The cost of each barge will be HK$140 million, which includes the construction of a 120-meter-long barge for HK$60 million and decorating the containers and installing facilities, which will be HK$80 million.

Victor Sung Shu-hung, a vice president at the federation, said the barge would not be regulated by the Buildings Ordinance.

〈The Standard, August 28, 2018〉Asian investors have become the most active net buyers of commercial property worldwide, accounting for 20 per cent of assets sold by global funds in the first half of this year, a time when outbound investment from mainland China slowed.

Investors, notably from Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and South Korea, bought one-fifth, or US$6.3 billion, of office, hotel and retail assets offloaded by global funds, which were the largest net sellers of commercial real estate - worth a total of US$31.5 billion - between January and June, according to international property consultant JLL.

"As outbound investment from China slowed, investors from Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea stepped in to provide liquidity, demonstrating the depth of the buyer pool from the region," JLL said in a report.

This was a significant portion of the record US$81 billion in investment volumes in the Asia- Pacific seen during the period, which was a 30 per cent year-on-year boost despite the slowdown in outbound investment from the mainland, JLL said.

Meanwhile, tycoon Li Ka-shing's sale of his tallest office building, The Center, for US$5.1 billion has lifted Hong Kong to the world's third-most active city from 10th. Transaction volumes in Hong Kong grew to US$14.6 billion in the first half of the year from US$5.8 billion a year earlier.