〈Asian Post, Feb 5, 2022〉Liquidity woes at China’s property giants are forcing thousands of small contractors to close down business, sell belongings or tap into emergency funds just to stay afloat
As millions of Chinese headed home this week to celebrate the Lunar New Year, Michael Lin had to break the bad news to his seven-year-old daughter: she would not be seeing her grandparents in Anhui province during the long holiday week.

Lin, who runs a painting and insulation company in neighbouring Jiangsu province, had to sell the family’s 2017 Honda sport utility vehicle in December to keep his business – and six employees – afloat.

He is one of thousands of suppliers who have had to forgo holidays, tap into rainy-day funds or close their business in the past year, as they came into hard times, following the outsize debts owed by China Evergrande Group, Kaisa Group Holdings and dozens of mainland developers facing US$84 billion of bond payments in 2022.

〈Asian Post, Feb 4, 2022〉Hong Kong-listed developer Shui On Land said it had resolved owners’ complaints at Optics Valley Innovation Tiandi, its joint-venture flagship mixed-used project in Wuhan.
Some owners of the flats at Wuhan Optics Valley, which is part of the second phase of the development, complained of "cracks and leaks" caused by poor workmanship, substandard materials and discrepancies between the blueprints and the actual features, according to a letter sent by a representative. The letter was accompanied by photographs and slides.

In early January, owners also protested at the sales office and demanded an answer from Shui On.

"[We] will continue to contact the media, request third-party audits, visit the [relevant] government offices and file lawsuits to protect our legal rights," said the letter sent by "Neo", who claims to represent 200 owners at Optics Valley.

The letter was addressed to Vincent Lo Hong-sui, chairman of Shui On.

A spokeswoman for Optics Valley, however, said in a written reply to the Post that "it never received a joint letter from the owners", but acknowledged it had received complaints from a few owners regarding the project’s "garden landscape, exterior facade and floor tiles in the common area". She added that it had "replied to each of the owners through property consultant.

〈The Standard, Feb 3, 2022〉Property agents expect to see pent-up demand accumulated over the Chinese New Year break amid the fallout from the escalating fifth wave of the Covid pandemic in Hong Kong.

This comes as Hong Kong's property market is expected to witness 92,100 deals in last year totally, involving HK$885.61 billion, a record high in nine years, according to Ricacorp Properties.

Ricacorp Properties said there were 57,370 secondary property deals in the year of the Ox worth HK$495.81 billion.

The property broker expects that Hong Kong's residential residential market will witness an upward trend this year, representing an 8 percent to 10 percent increase, thanks to the strong demand from the market and the prospective anti-pandemic situation.

Meanwhile in the primary market, Far East Consortium International (0035) is set to launch 12 duplex units, measuring from 1,019 to 1,337 square feet, in Mount Arcadia in Shatin via tender on Monday.

The luxury house project will also become the first project to be sold by tender in the Year of the Tiger.

〈Asian Post, Feb 2, 2022〉The prices of Hong Kong's street-level shops could slump by as much as 20 per cent if the coronavirus outbreak persists throughout the year, with retail and catering operators most at risk, according to market observers.

Owners had cut prices by 5 per cent to 10 per cent on average since the outbreak of the Omicron coronavirus strain, according to Edwin Lee, founder and chief executive of Bridgeway Prime Shop Fund Management.

"If the pandemic does not fade and persists for [a few] months, the shop market will drop 5 to 10 per cent," said Lee. "If it does not fade for the whole year, it will drop 15 to 20 per cent."

He added the pandemic will throw up some good bargains.

Retail sales in 2021 rose 8.1 per cent year on year, but were still 30 per cent lower compared with 2018, before the social unrest and coronavirus outbreak.

〈China Daily, Feb 1, 2022〉The growing number of ers Hong Konger's moving to Taiwan is likely to boost housing demand in the self-ruled island in the coming years, according to an analyst.
Hong Kong people accounted for at least a third of homes bought by foreigners in Taiwan in 2019 and 2020, according to the latest official data.

It showed 27,844 Hong Kongers were approved by Taipei for residency from 2019 to 2021, more than double the 12,220 in the preceding three years from 2016 to 2018. Those who were permitted permanent residency have also risen since 2016.

"Hong Kong people have always considered Taiwan a popular place to relocate to because of geographical proximity and cultural similarity," said Sing Tien Foo, professor and director of the Institute of Real Estate.