Source : The Business Times, August 21, 2008
(DUBAI) Dubai newspapers are reporting that the local government has issued a mortgage law aimed at regulating the city-state's booming property market.
Yesterday's reports in the Khaleej Times and the Gulf News say that the law requires that mortgages be insured, sold by approved banks, registered with local authorities and that they specify the property value and terms of the loan.
They say the ruler of Dubai, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, issued the decree on the new law. It will take effect 60 days from publication. -- AP
Thursday, August 21, 2008
San Francisco Bay Area Home Sales Up
Source : The Business Times, August 21, 2008
7,586, or 2% more, units sold in July, recording first sales gain since Jan 2005
(SAN FRANCISCO) San Francisco Bay Area home sales rose in July for the first time since 2005 and the median price fell to the lowest in more than three years as buyers bought discounted properties in foreclosure.
Cheap buys: One-third of the Bay Area's resales in July were homes fresh off foreclosure. Buyers are attracted by foreclosure sales to inland areas where home prices fell after rapid appreciation during the housing boom
Sales increased 2.2 per cent last month from a year earlier, San Diego-based MDA DataQuick, a property research firm, said in a report on Monday. A total of 7,586 houses and condominiums sold in July in nine Bay Area counties.
The median fell a record 29.3 per cent to US$470,000, the lowest since March 2005.
'We know one-third of the Bay Area's resales in July were homes fresh off foreclosure,' said John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president. 'Who knows how many more involved a desperate seller and a lender who accepted a short sale?'
Foreclosure sales are attracting buyers to inland areas where home prices declined after rapid appreciation during the five year housing boom. Those transactions accounted for 33 per cent of total Bay Area sales last month, up from 29.9 per cent in June and from 4.2 per cent a year earlier.
Eleven ZIP codes in Solano and Contra Costa counties had foreclosure sales at least double the amount in July 2007, according to MDA DataQuick.
Falling prices enabled 48 per cent of households to afford an entry-level home in the state in the second quarter, compared with 24 per cent a year earlier, the California Association of Realtors said in a separate report on Monday. The minimum qualifying income was US$62,870, compared with US$101,440 a year earlier, the Realtors said.
The year-over-year sales gain was the first since January 2005, MDA DataQuick said. Transactions increased 5.7 per cent in July from June. Southern California home sales rose 14 per cent to the highest level since March 2007.
Sales are slower in more expensive coastal areas such as San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties, MDA DataQuick said.
Potential buyers are waiting for mortgage terms to become less strict and sellers are reluctant to put their homes on the market as prices fall, Mr Walsh said.
Purchases made with jumbo loans, those over US$417,000, fell by half in July from a year earlier and help explain why the region's median price declined the most since MDA DataQuick, a unit of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates, began statistics in 1988, the company said.
The Bay Area median hasn't been lower since March 2005, when it was US$469,500.
Prices dropped in all nine counties, led by a 42 per cent decline in Contra Costa. Prices decreased 34 per cent in Solano, 30 per cent in Sonoma, 28 per cent in Napa, 27 per cent in Alameda, 16 per cent in Santa Clara, 16 per cent in San Mateo, 13 per cent in Marin and 6 per cent in San Francisco, according to MDA DataQuick.
Sales increased 47 per cent in Napa, 45 per cent in Solano, 30 per cent in Contra Costa and 8 per cent in San Francisco. They fell 13 per cent in Santa Clara, 11 per cent in San Mateo, 10 per cent in Marin and 9 per cent in Alameda. Sales were unchanged in Sonoma, MDA DataQuick said.
The typical monthly mortgage payment was US$2,218 in July, down from US$2,282 in June and US$3,222 a year earlier.
Adjusted for inflation, current payments are 15.1 per cent below payments in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle, and 36.1 per cent below payments in June 2006, the current cycle's peak, MDA DataQuick said. -- Bloomberg
7,586, or 2% more, units sold in July, recording first sales gain since Jan 2005
(SAN FRANCISCO) San Francisco Bay Area home sales rose in July for the first time since 2005 and the median price fell to the lowest in more than three years as buyers bought discounted properties in foreclosure.
Cheap buys: One-third of the Bay Area's resales in July were homes fresh off foreclosure. Buyers are attracted by foreclosure sales to inland areas where home prices fell after rapid appreciation during the housing boomSales increased 2.2 per cent last month from a year earlier, San Diego-based MDA DataQuick, a property research firm, said in a report on Monday. A total of 7,586 houses and condominiums sold in July in nine Bay Area counties.
The median fell a record 29.3 per cent to US$470,000, the lowest since March 2005.
'We know one-third of the Bay Area's resales in July were homes fresh off foreclosure,' said John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president. 'Who knows how many more involved a desperate seller and a lender who accepted a short sale?'
Foreclosure sales are attracting buyers to inland areas where home prices declined after rapid appreciation during the five year housing boom. Those transactions accounted for 33 per cent of total Bay Area sales last month, up from 29.9 per cent in June and from 4.2 per cent a year earlier.
Eleven ZIP codes in Solano and Contra Costa counties had foreclosure sales at least double the amount in July 2007, according to MDA DataQuick.
Falling prices enabled 48 per cent of households to afford an entry-level home in the state in the second quarter, compared with 24 per cent a year earlier, the California Association of Realtors said in a separate report on Monday. The minimum qualifying income was US$62,870, compared with US$101,440 a year earlier, the Realtors said.
The year-over-year sales gain was the first since January 2005, MDA DataQuick said. Transactions increased 5.7 per cent in July from June. Southern California home sales rose 14 per cent to the highest level since March 2007.
Sales are slower in more expensive coastal areas such as San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties, MDA DataQuick said.
Potential buyers are waiting for mortgage terms to become less strict and sellers are reluctant to put their homes on the market as prices fall, Mr Walsh said.
Purchases made with jumbo loans, those over US$417,000, fell by half in July from a year earlier and help explain why the region's median price declined the most since MDA DataQuick, a unit of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates, began statistics in 1988, the company said.
The Bay Area median hasn't been lower since March 2005, when it was US$469,500.
Prices dropped in all nine counties, led by a 42 per cent decline in Contra Costa. Prices decreased 34 per cent in Solano, 30 per cent in Sonoma, 28 per cent in Napa, 27 per cent in Alameda, 16 per cent in Santa Clara, 16 per cent in San Mateo, 13 per cent in Marin and 6 per cent in San Francisco, according to MDA DataQuick.
Sales increased 47 per cent in Napa, 45 per cent in Solano, 30 per cent in Contra Costa and 8 per cent in San Francisco. They fell 13 per cent in Santa Clara, 11 per cent in San Mateo, 10 per cent in Marin and 9 per cent in Alameda. Sales were unchanged in Sonoma, MDA DataQuick said.
The typical monthly mortgage payment was US$2,218 in July, down from US$2,282 in June and US$3,222 a year earlier.
Adjusted for inflation, current payments are 15.1 per cent below payments in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle, and 36.1 per cent below payments in June 2006, the current cycle's peak, MDA DataQuick said. -- Bloomberg
Key Japan Real Estate Sector Seen Tripling
Source : The Business Times, August 21, 2008
Logistics property market investments may grow 3-fold in a few years: LaSalle
(TOKYO) Japan's market for investment in logistics real estate - such as warehouses, distribution centres and ports - is seen growing threefold within a few years as more players enter a sector considered stable even in an economic slowdown, an executive of LaSalle Investment Management said.
The real estate securitisation investment market was about 320 billion yen (S$4 billion) in 2007, accounting for only 3.8 per cent of Japan's total Reit (real estate investment trust) investment.
But LaSalle, which manages US$54 billion assets in global real estate markets, sees such logistics-area investment accounting for more than 10 per cent of total J-Reit investment in the near future, executive officer Yosuke Yoshikawa told a Tokyo seminar.
'Logistics property investment is still immature here for reasons such as a dearth of investment opportunities and limited information disclosure . . . maybe that's why only one J-Reit is solely focusing on the logistics field,' Mr Yoshikawa said.
'But considering its big and established presence in Europe, especially in Britain, and the relative strength of the economic slowdown, logistics real estate investment has a big growth potential,' he said.
After raising 360 billion yen, the Tokyo-based investor launched 'LaSalle Japan Logistics Fund Two' last year.
LaSalle still has some 280 billion yen left to invest until 2010 after spending 80 billion yen since the fund's launch, another executive told Reuters after the seminar.
A planned investment would include development of multi-purpose logistics centres and 'off-balance- sheet' support for logistics companies.
LaSalle is a unit of Chicago-based property services company Jones Lang LaSalle Group which manages property investments of institutional investors such as pension funds and companies.
Tokyo-based LaSalle bought out an asset management company in 2007 and injected fresh capital into a Reit that has since been renamed LaSalle Japan Reit Inc.
LaSalle Japan Reit closed down 12.3 per cent at 191,200 yen yesterday, while the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Reit index shed 0.3 per cent to 1,269.54. -- Reuters
Logistics property market investments may grow 3-fold in a few years: LaSalle
(TOKYO) Japan's market for investment in logistics real estate - such as warehouses, distribution centres and ports - is seen growing threefold within a few years as more players enter a sector considered stable even in an economic slowdown, an executive of LaSalle Investment Management said.
The real estate securitisation investment market was about 320 billion yen (S$4 billion) in 2007, accounting for only 3.8 per cent of Japan's total Reit (real estate investment trust) investment.
But LaSalle, which manages US$54 billion assets in global real estate markets, sees such logistics-area investment accounting for more than 10 per cent of total J-Reit investment in the near future, executive officer Yosuke Yoshikawa told a Tokyo seminar.
'Logistics property investment is still immature here for reasons such as a dearth of investment opportunities and limited information disclosure . . . maybe that's why only one J-Reit is solely focusing on the logistics field,' Mr Yoshikawa said.
'But considering its big and established presence in Europe, especially in Britain, and the relative strength of the economic slowdown, logistics real estate investment has a big growth potential,' he said.
After raising 360 billion yen, the Tokyo-based investor launched 'LaSalle Japan Logistics Fund Two' last year.
LaSalle still has some 280 billion yen left to invest until 2010 after spending 80 billion yen since the fund's launch, another executive told Reuters after the seminar.
A planned investment would include development of multi-purpose logistics centres and 'off-balance- sheet' support for logistics companies.
LaSalle is a unit of Chicago-based property services company Jones Lang LaSalle Group which manages property investments of institutional investors such as pension funds and companies.
Tokyo-based LaSalle bought out an asset management company in 2007 and injected fresh capital into a Reit that has since been renamed LaSalle Japan Reit Inc.
LaSalle Japan Reit closed down 12.3 per cent at 191,200 yen yesterday, while the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Reit index shed 0.3 per cent to 1,269.54. -- Reuters
CityDev Inks Deal With CIMB
Source : The Straits Times, August 21, 2008
SINGAPORE property developer City Developments on Thursday inked a deal with Malaysian financial group CIMB in a bid to raise one billion Singapore dollars through the issuing of Islamic bonds.
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City Developments hopes to have the first tranche of the issue on the market by the end of the year, the company said. CIMB is lead manager for the issue.
The signing followed the announcement last week by City Developments that it planned the unsecured Islamic bond offering.
'This is the first Islamic unsecured financing transaction of its kind in Singapore,' said Mr Kwek Leng Joo, City Developments managing director.
The city-state has been trying to grow its share of the Islamic finance market.
He said the Islamic bond offering will boost City Developments' coffers and enable it to tap opportunities during an emerging global economic slowdown.
'We always believe that in the midst of any economic slowdown, there are tremendous opportunities to explore and take advantage of,' Mr Kwek said.
City Developments is one of Singapore's leading property developers and also has interests in hotels.
Islamic banking fuses principles of sharia, or Islamic law, and modern banking. Islamic funds are banned from investing in companies associated with tobacco, alcohol or gambling, considered taboo by Muslims.
According to CIMB, the Islamic bond market is holding up despite global economic woes.
'It is holding up quite well considering that it is a new market and people are still hungry for assets and the demand is still very much there for any issue whenever they come to market. They will take it up,' said Mr Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, chief executive officer of CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad.
Muslim-dominated Malaysia has the world's largest Islamic bond market, accounting for about 66 percent of total Islamic bonds issued worldwide in 2007, figures from CIMB showed.
The global market for sukuk - the Islamic equivalent of bonds - could top 100 billion US dollars (S$140 billion) in the next few years after exceeding 60 billion dollars last year, credit ratings firm Standard and Poor's said in March. -- AFP
SINGAPORE property developer City Developments on Thursday inked a deal with Malaysian financial group CIMB in a bid to raise one billion Singapore dollars through the issuing of Islamic bonds.
+Logo+1.jpg)
City Developments hopes to have the first tranche of the issue on the market by the end of the year, the company said. CIMB is lead manager for the issue. The signing followed the announcement last week by City Developments that it planned the unsecured Islamic bond offering.
'This is the first Islamic unsecured financing transaction of its kind in Singapore,' said Mr Kwek Leng Joo, City Developments managing director.
The city-state has been trying to grow its share of the Islamic finance market.
He said the Islamic bond offering will boost City Developments' coffers and enable it to tap opportunities during an emerging global economic slowdown.
'We always believe that in the midst of any economic slowdown, there are tremendous opportunities to explore and take advantage of,' Mr Kwek said.
City Developments is one of Singapore's leading property developers and also has interests in hotels.
Islamic banking fuses principles of sharia, or Islamic law, and modern banking. Islamic funds are banned from investing in companies associated with tobacco, alcohol or gambling, considered taboo by Muslims.
According to CIMB, the Islamic bond market is holding up despite global economic woes.
'It is holding up quite well considering that it is a new market and people are still hungry for assets and the demand is still very much there for any issue whenever they come to market. They will take it up,' said Mr Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, chief executive officer of CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad.
Muslim-dominated Malaysia has the world's largest Islamic bond market, accounting for about 66 percent of total Islamic bonds issued worldwide in 2007, figures from CIMB showed.
The global market for sukuk - the Islamic equivalent of bonds - could top 100 billion US dollars (S$140 billion) in the next few years after exceeding 60 billion dollars last year, credit ratings firm Standard and Poor's said in March. -- AFP
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