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Steve Madden Lists New York Townhouse

Shoe mogul Steve Madden has listed his New York City townhouse for $8.99 million. Known for high-end footwear, Mr. Madden paid a combined $7.7 million for the four individual units that make up the 6,000-square foot home, according to the New York Observer.

Dating back to 1860, the landmark townhouse in the East 73rd Street Historic District is one of "only two surviving Italianate-style homes" in the area, the Observer notes.

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Steve Madden's townhouse
Originally built as a townhouse, the property was converted into a duplex and blacksmith's shop in the 1800s, making horseshoes for nearby stables. Maybe Mr. Madden hoped to summon inspiration for future shoe designs when he made the first purchase of a three bedroom-unit in September 2006.

The purchase was a major step up from the prison cell he lived in a year earlier, when he served a 2 ½-year sentence for securities fraud, according to RealEstalker.

After two more purchases four years later, Mr. Madden, who is reportedly worth $120 million, and wife Wendy Ballew purchased the fourth unit, "a multi-level set up...with a nearly 200-square-foot south-facing roof terrace," in December 2012, the Observer reports. The 20-foot-wide townhouse also features "six bedrooms--four small ones on the third floor, and two on the fifth floor, each with skylights and their own private terraces," according to the Observer. 

However, the shoe apparently didn't fit for Mr. and Mrs. Madden; they put the house up for sale just a few months later.

Listed by Douglas Elliman, the townhouse has potential for renovations and reconfiguration of the convoluted floor plan, hopefully creating a clear path from the basement to the fifth floor, according to the listing.

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China Resort Company Plans $160 Million Expansion

Shanghai-based resort owner Naked Retreat plans to invest more than $160 million in new projects as demand grows for eco-themed resorts in China.

While Hyatt and other traditional international hotel chains continue to expand in China, there are still few options for alternative eco-themed resorts, Naked Retreats co-founder Grant Horsfield told Forbes. Naked Retreats wants to create more choices for tourists in China.

"If we had another 1,000 rooms, we could fill them," Mr. Horsfield, told Forbes.

Mr. Horsfield and co-founder wife, Delphine Yip, a Hong Kong-born architect, are planning to expand in areas near the Great Wall in Beijing; on an island in Taihu Lake, in the Jiangsu province; and in the Shanghai and Guanzhou areas, Forbes reports.

Investor financing for the planned expansion hasn't been confirmed, but "there is no shortage of money," Mr. Horsfield told Forbes.

Overseas resorts such as Banyan Tree are also interested in expanding in the country, hoping to capitalize on the growth of high net worth individuals in China. There were 122 billionaires in China in the 2013 Forbes Billionaire list, demonstrating the country's economic growth in the last decade.

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Moganshan area outside Shanghai
The company's current facilities include Naked Home Village and Naked Stables, which are located in the Moganshan area outside Shanghai.

Mr. Horsfield moved to China from South Africa in 2005. Before moving to China he founded e-Bites Limited, a publishing company and a call-center facilitations company based in Cape Town.

In 2011 they opened Naked Stables Private Reserve, a collection of tree-top villas and huts near the farming hamlet of Shanjiuwu. Earlier this year Naked Stables earned a LEED platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for 70 of its 90 buildings.

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American Real Estate Investors Target South America

South American real estate markets are attracting big-name American investors, with Brazil gaining the most attention.

The Related Group, Donald Trump and Sam Zell are among the real estate investors looking to build residential housing and commercial space in Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia, the International Herald Tribune reports.

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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
This represents something of a shift in one of the more popular industry storylines. Media reports chronicle the flow of South Americans residents purchasing property in high-end areas like Miami and New York.

Now the trend is reversing and South America is seen as safer for foreign and local real estate developers. The demographics and buying power of the populations in South America are also improving.

"Someone from the interior of Brazil, who in the past would have bought a home in Paris or New York, will now buy it in Rio," president of the Association of Directors of Real Estate Companies in Rio de Janeiro, José Conde Caldas told the paper.

Winning the right to host the 2016 Olympics and the discovery of large offshore oil finds have helped boost Brazil's investor profile, the paper reported. The average price of a four-bedroom apartment in Ipanema in Rio de Janeiro, "rose nearly six-fold from 2008 to 2012, exceeding $2.5 million," according to the IHT.

Noting the need for upscale housing in the next decade, the chairman of Related Group, Jorge Pérez, told the paper he "has an eye to the Rio market," and has created a new subsidiary, Related Brasil.

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International Buyers Drive Up Miami Condo Prices


The median sales price of a condominium in Miami-Dade County jumped 26.9 percent in February from a year earlier, fueled in large part by international buyers.

The median price for a condo rose to $165,000, a 6.5 percent increase from January, the Miami Association of Realtors reported today. The number of sales of existing condos was up 6.3 percent from a year ago.

Vizcayne-Condos-Downtown-Miami.jpg Buyers paid all cash in 78.1 percent of the condominium transactions in February, which "reflects the much stronger presence of international buyers," MAR said in a statement. Ninety percent of foreign buyers in Florida purchase in cash, the group said.

Overall, 66.8 percent of home sales in Miami were all cash. In comparison, nationally all-cash deals accounted for 32 percent of transactions in February.

"Demand for housing in Miami from both foreign and domestic buyers continues to deplete local inventory and to drive significant price appreciation," said Natascha Tello, chairman of the board of MAR. "Miami remains a top market for net migration from other states in addition to being the top market in the nation for foreign buyers."


Home prices in Miami have risen for 15 consecutive months, MAR reports. The number of sales of existing single family homes in Miami-Dade was up 6.8 percent in February from a year earlier, while the median sales price of existing single-family homes increased to 10.9 percent to $194,000 year-over-year.

The Miami-Dade market continues to work through a backlog of distressed properties and short sales. In January, 42.2 percent of all closed residential sales in Miami-Dade County were distressed sales, down from 53.6 percent a year ago, but below the national average, which is closer to 25 percent of sales.

Around the country, median home prices rose 11.6 in February from a year earlier, with the number of sales hitting the highest levels since 2009.

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Record Number of Scandinavians Flocking to Spain Property

The European market may still be in the doldrums, but home builder Taylor Wimpey is reporting a more than 300 percent increase in the number of Scandinavians buying homes in Spain.

"The interest from Scandinavian markets continues to boom as buyers take advantage of favorable exchange rates and reduced Spanish house prices," said Marc Pritchard, sales and marketing director of Taylor Wimpey España, a subsidiary of the U.K. builder.


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Costa Blanca, Spain
Sales to Scandinavians were up 311 percent in 2012 compared to the previous year, the home builder says. The trend has continued in to 2013, with January sales to Scandinavian buyers up 300 percent.

The Costa del Sol was the most popular region among the Scandinavian buyers, attracting 46 percent of the buyers. But the Costa Blanca saw a 35 percent increase in Nordic buyers, the company says.

Scandinavians now rank as the fifth largest buying group for Taylor Wimpey España, a market which is traditionally dominated by British and German buyers.

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Barcelona Hotels Defy Spain's Economic Woes

Spain's economic woes are battering almost every sector of the property market--except Barcelona hotels.

Revenue per available hotel room in Barcelona actually increased 7.6 percent in 2012 compared to the previous year, according to Jones Lang LaSalle's new market intelligence report. It was a different story in Madrid, where the revenue per available hotel room declined 3.7 percent in 2012. JLL cites weakening corporate demand as the primary culprit for Madrid.

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Barcelona, Spain
"The resilience of Barcelona's hotel industry is a result of the growing popularity of the city among international tourists who accounted for 84 percent of total bed nights in 2012, cementing Barcelona's strong position as a leading tourist destination," Jones Lang LaSalle reports.

It was the second straight year of positive results for Barcelona.

Overall, Barcelona and Madrid hotels remain attractive for investors, Jones Lang LaSalle concludes.

"Interest for well-located properties in Spain is still high, with international investors keeping their eyes on the country's main cities and waiting for distressed opportunities that offer high-performing assets at affordable prices," JLL reports.

Banks looking to jettison property assets and raise capital may put hotel properties on the market, the consultancy predicts. Hotels in main cities with steady cash flows are likely to draw international interest.

"In Spain transaction activity will likely remain weak as investors face higher risks as the recession in Spain continues in 2013, with investment volumes likely to be similar to 2012 at circa €400 million," Luis Arsuaga, national director for Spain and Portugal for JLL's hotel and hospitality group. "We expect many international investors to follow a 'wait and see' approach and focus on key tourist destinations with strong trading fundamentals such as Barcelona and Madrid."

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Brooklyn Apartment Market is 'On Fire'

Manhattan apartment rates continue to rise, pushing renters to Brooklyn and outlying boroughs, a new study found.

The average rental price for an apartment in Manhattan is now $3,190 a month, a relatively modest 4.7 percent increase from a year ago, according to report released today by Douglas Elliman Real Estate. In contrast, the median rent in Brooklyn jumped 7.2 percent from a year earlier, to $2,590.

Brooklyn-Bridge-new-york.jpg "Brooklyn is hot, on fire," Douglas Elliman director of rental Mark Menendez told World Property Channel. "It's the result of a lot of buyers and renters pushed out of Manhattan."

The median rent for a luxury apartment in Brooklyn jumped 31.6 percent from a year ago to $5,165. Listing discounts in Brooklyn were slashed to 6.4 percent, compared to 11.8 percent last July, as landlords were hesitant to make deals. The average days on the market for an apartment in Brooklyn fell to 43 days, five days faster than a year ago.

Other outlying areas are also seeing new activity as renters look for alternatives to Manhattan.

"We're starting to see requests from other neighborhoods that we haven't seen in recent years," Mr. Menendez said.

The vacancy rate in Manhattan remained a light 1.69 percent, unchanged from a year ago, according to the new study. With sale prices soaring and rental prices high, renters in Manhattan are reluctant to abandon their apartments to search for something new.

"Tight credit is keeping many people from making the transition from rental to sales," said Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers, which conducted the study.

When they do decide to move, Manhattan is no longer always the best option.

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Multi-Family Investors in South Florida Change Their Focus

As sales volumes continue to grow, the supply of Class A multi-family properties in South Florida is dwindling, causing some investors to change their buying habits. 

Bidding on Class A apartment properties is so competitive, some buyers are looking at deals on lesser-quality apartment buildings, industry experts say.

"More and more, institutions are looking at B quality (multi-family) assets," Still Hunter, Marcus & Millichap senior vice president told World Property Channel.  "Although REITs may not be buying these properties, people with institutional money, such as (money) coming from pension fund advisors, are buying B quality assets, because of the lack of Class A inventory."

New-luxury-apartments-residential.jpg One such deal is the $41.5 million sale ($131,000 per unit) in February of the 316-unit Park Colony Apartments in Hollywood, Florida, Mr. Hunter says. The seller was a company that the Boston-based Berkshire Property Advisors manages and the buyer was a group managed by Andrew De Francesco, chairman and chief executive of Delavaco Capital, a private equity and merchant banking group.

Overall, the South Florida multi-family market continues to thrive at levels not seen since before the recession, according to the CBRE Multi-Housing Market Update for spring 2013. In 2012, there were $490 million in sales of South Florida properties in the $1 million to $10 million range with a total of more than 13,700 units. It was the highest sales volume for multi-family properties in South Florida in the last five years, CBRE reports.
This surge in multi-family investment in South Florida has continued into 2013, according to multi-family specialists.

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Jakarta Ranked Top Real Estate Investment Market in Asia Pacific

Jakarta, whose colorful postage stamps have enthralled stamp collectors for ages, is now being touted as the next virgin site for international real estate investors.

The Indonesian capital was ranked at the top of a five-country list expected to open a new frontier in global property investment.

The list and the report, Emerging Trends in Real Estate Asia Pacific 2013, was jointly published by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) of Washington, DC and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).of New York City.

The top five emerging Asia Pacific markets listed were:

Jakarta, Indonesia
● Shanghai, China
● Singapore
● Sydney, Australia
● Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia


Other markets with high investment potential:

Kowloon, Hong Kong
● Beijing, China
● Tokyo, Japan
● Bangkok, Thailand


Asia Pacific analysts say it is understandable why Jakarta was selected as the market with the most potential for international investors.

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Located on the northwest coast of Java, Jakarta is the largest city in Indonesia and in Southeast Asia with a population of 10 million. It is Indonesia's economic, cultural and political center and ranks is the 13th most populated city in the world, according to Wikipedia. Until now, it has received little attention from big-name real estate investors.

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But concerns among investors that prime assets in key real estate markets in the Asia Pacific region are becoming overpriced are pushing a number of previously overlooked markets to their attention. As a result, the report finds that markets outside core cities are increasingly attractive for investment and development

"With high rents, high capital values, low yields, and an abundance of local capital, many international investors are struggling to see attractive investment opportunities in Asia Pacific's prime real estate markets," commented ULI Trustee and ULI North Asia Vice Chairman Richard Price, Chief Executive, Asia Pacific for CBRE Global Investors.

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Hilton Hotels Makes Large Bet on Argentina's Future


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Buenos Aires, Argentina
In addition to creating the world's first international hotel chain, one of the great accomplishments of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton was to lead his hotel properties through many periods of great economic difficulty. Building on its international presence and history of making investments despite difficult macroeconomic circumstances, it was announced that the Hilton will build its fifth hotel in Argentina.

The hotel, Hilton Pilar Hotel & Residences, will be built in the Pilar Golf complex in the City of Pilar in the Province of Buenos Aires.   The planned three story hotel will have 170 rooms, more than 21,000 square feet of meeting space and numerous amenities.  Apart from the hotel, the project will also include 130 residential units comprised of condominiums as well as free standing houses.  It is expected that the hotel will open in March of 2015.

The Argentine hotel industry is currently facing difficult times, as currency restrictions have made US Dollars harder to obtain and the Peso's purchasing power has eroded due to high inflation levels.   A key source of Argentina's leisure industry revenues are tourists from Europe, whose disposable income has sharply declined. Domestically, while rapid economic growth helped Argentine consumers weather some of the effects of inflation, Argentina's economic growth rate is expected to fall from a soaring nearly 9% in 2011 to slightly over 2% in 2012.  One of the largest impacts of this economic slowdown will very likely be on vacation and luxury item spending.

Faced with increasing economic and political uncertainty, a number of international businesses have decided to close or scale down their Argentina operations.   Luxury brands Ralph Lauren, Ermenegildo Zegna and Escada have reportedly closed or reduced their business activities.    There are not high hopes for a significantly improved operating environment for international businesses in the short term due to the likelihood of continuing foreign currency restrictions and worsening economic conditions.

On the other hand, the new Hilton project could benefit from the fact that a significant portion of the investment will involve the sale of residences.    Due to concerns about Peso-denominated financial assets, many Argentines have sought to purchase real estate, a trend which has continued to push prices up even though currency restrictions have caused transaction volumes in the largely US Dollar-driven market to dramatically fall.  In an environment of shrinking safe harbors to prevent currency value erosion, an opportunity to buy into a well known international real estate brand could be viewed by Argentines as a good short term defensive strategy as well as long term investment option. 

More broadly, the fact that Hilton is ramping up its Argentina investment and country commitment while country investment fundamentals are declining, a strategy which runs counter to the historical experience of many international investors, could pay significant dividends when Argentina's investment conditions once again improve.
 

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Hotel Investment Activity to Uptick Sooner in the Americas than Most Global Markets


European-hotel.jpg At the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) last week in Los Angeles, Jones Lang LaSalle's (JLL) Hotels & Hospitality Group reported five forces which will drive the hotel investment market during the next five years. JLL also predicted global hotel deal volume is projected to remain in line with the most recent three-year average in 2013, but points to signs that an on-going uptick in Americas hotel transactions activity sooner rather than later.

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Hotels in U.S., Brazil, Mexico and Canada Post Gains

Hotel operators in the Americas posted strong gains in January, reporting a 3.3 percent increase in occupancy to 51.3 percent, STR Global Reports.

The region--including United States, Brazil, Mexico, Panama and Canada--also showed gains in other key metrics, including a 4.8 percent gain in average daily rate and an 8.3 percent uptick in revenue per available room.

New York reported the largest occupancy gains, rising 11.4 percent to 73.8 percent, the research firm said. Buenos Aires, Argentina, which fell 12.2 percent, and Panama City, Panama, which also fell 12.2 percent, posted the largest occupancy decreases for the month, STR said.

The biggest markets for average daily rate increases were: Washington, D.C. (+17.0 percent); Miami, Florida (+12.2 percent); and San Juan, Puerto Rico (+11.2 percent).

Four markets achieved increases of revenue per available room increases of more than 15 percent: Washington, D.C. (+25.8 percent); San Juan (+18.4 percent); Miami (+17.5 percent); and New York (+16.3 percent).

Panama City reported the largest ADR (-9.4 percent) and RevPAR (-20.5 percent to US$57.27) decreases for the month.

Performances of key countries in January 2013 (all monetary units in local currency):

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Why is Malaysian Group Rolling the Dice on Las Vegas?

The Kuala Lumpur-based Genting Group has announced plans to spend $7 billion to build a new casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip, despite the sluggish market.

Several high-profile projects planned for the Strip have stalled in spectacular fashion in recent years, including the half-built 68-story Fontainebleau Las Vegas, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009. Genting is paying $350 million to take over an 87-acre site once intended for a project called Echelon, which was halted in 2008.


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Resorts World Las Vegas
Genting's move counters conventional wisdom that the Strip is overbuilt and under-appreciated, in the wake of a building boom in the '90s. Hotel revenues and occupancy rates are still below peak levels, even though there has been an uptick in activity in the last year.

But Genting believes the Asia market will boost Las Vegas in the future.

"As China develops and grows their economy, there's a burgeoning middle class and they want to travel," senior vice president of development Christian Goode told the Associated Press. "We think Las Vegas is a natural destination."

By all accounts, Genting is also getting the property at a bargain price.

The price for the land--about $4 million an acre--is "among the lowest in a decade for Strip property," the Wall Street Journal reports. In 2007, a developer paid $34.7 million an acre for empty land on the glittery stretch.

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Resorts World Las Vegas
Talking to reporters, Mr. Goode acknowledged that not all observers agreed with his company's assessment of the market.

"Analysts, they have their one opinion and we have another," he said.

There is universal agreement that the announcement is a good sign for Las Vegas property, which needed a spark.

"I think we've turned conventional wisdom on its head today," Gov. Brian Sandoval said at the ceremony announcing the new resort.

The project, which will be called Resorts World International, will not affect Genting's plans to build a casino in Miami, a company representative told the South Florida Business Journal.
"Not at all," the spokesman told the paper. "We are moving forward with our Miami project as a standalone project,"

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Resorts World Las Vegas
The Kuala Lumpur-based company hopes to open the first phases of the project by 2015. Plans call for a pagoda-style design, with glass towers and various Asian-themed amenities to help attract visitors from China, Singapore and Malaysia. The complex, which will sit on a larger land parcel than City Center, will feature 3,500 hotel rooms, a convention center and a 4,000-deat theater.

"This is the real deal," Clark County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak told reporters. "You hear a lot of stuff about projects coming in potentially to Las Vegas and Clark County, and they're more or less pie in the sky and they never get built. But this is real. When you see the substance behind this company and what they've done and what they're still doing worldwide, this is real and you're going to see a transformation on Las Vegas Boulevard."

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Looming Sequestration Expected to be a Villain to Commercial Real Estate Industry

The $85 billion chunk that will likely be extracted from the US federal budget, and therefore the US economy, during the process of sequestration-- slated to begin on March 1--will be a blow to US commercial real estate.

Fiscal-Cliff.jpg Because the federal government is omnipresent--as an office tenant, as a builder of roads, bridges, military facilities, prisons and even offices--the revenue that the federal government contributes to the commercial real estate economy will be missed. Construction contractors and office leasing brokers are among the ones most likely to be affected.     

Government Properties Income Trust, Corporate Office Properties Trust, Piedmont Office Realty Trust, First Potomac Realty Trust, Brandywine Realty Trust and Vornado Realty Trust--all REITs with heavy exposure to Washington, D.C.--ended the day in negative territory on Monday, reported SNL Data Dispatch, an online newsletter put out by SNL Financial LC, referring to stock market trading.

REIT analyst John Guinee with Stifel Nicolaus told the SNL Financial newsletter that the sequestration would damage office fundamentals in Washington, D.C. REITS, such as First Potomac and Vornado, that own a lot of "commodity product," will cut rents to lure tenants, he said.

According to a February 7, 2013 report by the Associated General Contractors of America, "...the sequestration process would reduce many federal construction investment accounts in FY 2013 with the exception of the Highway Trust Fund, Airport Improvement Program, Department of Veterans Affairs accounts, and General Service Administration accounts. By AGC's estimates, the cuts to federal construction accounts could exceed $4 billion."

Sequestration will affect a broad range of construction projects, including drinking water and wastewater facilities, military housing, and affordable housing. Affordable housing will be affected because of cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.   

Tom Mertz's company may be one of the casualties of sequestration. Mertz, who is senior vice president and federal division manager at Sundt Construction, Inc. in Tempe, Arizona, says that about 25% of his company's annual revenue, which is about $1 billion, comes from the US government. As a construction contractor for the federal government, he says, "the biggest challenge (with regard to sequestration) is that it will be disruptive to the business planning process."

"Every year, we propose and bid on 20 to 25 government contracts. Sequestration won't impact our current contracts, but it would make it difficult to plan our business, because it would stall our hiring and investment decisions," says Mertz.

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Now Time to Buy in Japan, Analysts Say

Reports of a new consumption tax may spur a rush to buy homes in Japan, some experts predict.

The increase in consumption tax could add thousands of yen to the price of a home, the Japan Times reports.

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Tokyo, Japan
"Because the consumption tax -- which applies to new homes but not to land -- is levied when the buyer takes possession of the property, experts are expecting a rush on new homes by the end of the summer," the newspaper said in an article this week.

The new tax would add 600,000 yen to the price of a 45 million new home, the paper estimates.

New incentives for home purchases may offset the tax increase, but it is certainly not good news for Japan's housing market. Home prices in Japan dropped steadily after 2010, but reportedly steadied in the latter part of 2012.

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China Property Stocks Drop in Wake of New Restrictions

A new wave of government regulations intended to dampen China's fast-growing property market sent property-related stocks tumbling today to the lowest levels in five years.

On Friday China's government implemented new rules tightening the 20 percent capital gains tax on home sales and imposed new restrictions on home buying and loan rates for second homes. The government has been working to dampen speculation in China property for several years, with only marginal results.


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Shanghai, China
But the new measures have teeth. And they send a clear signal that the government is not backing off efforts to stop the rise in prices in many cities.

"The actual impact of the new policy can be very severe or not severe at all, depending on implementation. But the wording is unexpectedly harsh," Yao Wei, China economist at Societe Generale CIB, told Reuters. "In three months time, the impact may not be big at all. But it has stirred very high negative expectations."

Shares in property-related stocks initially fell 9.3 percent in the wake of the news.

"More detailed measures will be announced by related ministries including the People's Bank of China (central bank) and local governments, so markets should definitely take the edict seriously and be prepared for falling prices of related financial assets," Bank of America-Merrill Lynch's chief China economist Ting Lu wrote in a statement.

In an interview with the CBS program "60 Minutes," which aired Sunday night, Wang Shi, the chairman and founder of China Vanke. China's largest developer, acknowledged there is a bubble in China property. The average buyer would have to pay to more than 45 times his or her annual salary to buy an apartment in Shanghai, he said.

But he expressed confidence in the ability of the government to address the situation. "I believe that top leaders have enough smart[s] to deal with that. I hope!" he said.

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Mobile Millionaires' Pick Singapore as World's Safest Permanent Residence - See more at: http://www.worldpropertychannel.com/asia-pacific-residential-news/mobile-wealth-rbc-wealth-management-boston-consulting-group-singapore-real-estate-market-living-in-singapore-6369.php#sthash.LLlZYdFj.dpuf


Singapore-skyline-2.jpg Singapore skyline Singapore, that mystical island country-city combination off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula in southeast asia, once again is winning headlines. This time as the preferred permanent residence location by the world's rich and famous whose business and social lives are made up mostly of travel to and from countries other than Singapore. They are now being called the new mobile millionaires. RBC Wealth Management, part of Toronto-based Royal Bank of Canada, and EIU, a London-based unit of The Economist Group, surveyed 558 individuals who have at least $1 million of investable assets through June to October. Singapore beat out Hong Kong for the honors. Seventy-five percent of those surveyed picked Singapore; 25 percent chose Hong Kong. Qualify of life in Singapore is what convinced the wealthy. They believe Singapore is a far safer haven to raise a family than the often air-polluted environs of Hong Kong. For example, Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook Inc., moved to Singapore in 2009. Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings, relocated there in 2007. Rogers is the co-founder of the Quantum Fund with billionaire George Soros and creator of the Rogers International Commodities Index (RICI The rich and famous also cited the country's political stability as important. Infrastructure and educational opportunity were also rated high. The mobile millionaires also see Singapore as a safe haven to park a good chunk of their wealth while deciding where to invest it at a later date. Zurich bankers won't like to hear that. But so far as a site in which to conduct business, Hong Kong topped Singapore, according to an index published in March by Bloomberg Rankings. Hong Kong is the gateway to China - and many of world's top corporations understand that. For years, they have been eager to win a slice of the Beijing business pie A Boston Consulting Group report published May 31 showed Singapore posted a 14 percent increase in millionaire households to 188,000 last year, when the Asia-Pacific region countered a decline in wealth in Western Europe and the U.S. The proportion of millionaire homes in Singapore was 17 percent, the highest in the world, followed by Qatar and Kuwait. Singapore has an estimated permanent population of 5.1 million; two million are estimated to be foreigners. About 23 percent of the internationally mobile wealthy in Singapore prefer real estate investment as their top asset, compared with 7 percent in North America. It helps to be a mobile millionaire to live comfortably in Singapore these days. For example, the cost of a permit to own a small car for 10 years rose to an unprecedented S$78,523 ($64,300) on Dec. 5 from S$46,889 at the start of the year. That excludes the cost of buying a car. The government auctions limited vehicle permits to control congestion and pollution. The island's home prices climbed to a record in the third quarter, prompting the government to restrict home loans and cap property development. Price gains in Singapore have reached 4 percent or more every month bar one since November 2010, more than double the 1.9 percent average in the past two decades. Inflation is forecast by the Bank of Singapore to average more than 4.5 percent this year. - See more at: http://www.worldpropertychannel.com/asia-pacific-residential-news/mobile-wealth-rbc-wealth-management-boston-consulting-group-singapore-real-estate-market-living-in-singapore-6369.php#sthash.LLlZYdFj.dpuf

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Average Parking Spot Sale in Hong Kong Rises to $82,600 - See more at: http://www.worldpropertychannel.com/asia-pacific-commercial-news/hong-kong-parking-centaline-property-agency-ltd-carparkhkcom-savills-plc-svs-colliers-international-leung-chun-ying-6378.php#sthash.hE9UJDUy.dpuf


Parking-garage.jpg Talk about innovative niches. Slowed by the government's 2010 extra tax on residential sales, investors in Hong Kong real estate have found a new and more profitable product: The sale of parking spots in both residential, commercial and industrial markets. The Centaline Property Agency Ltd. in Hong Kong reports the average parking spot sale in the third quarter of this year rose 6.7 percent to HK$640,000 ($82,600 US), the second highest on record. Investors are asking those prices because Hong Kong is starved for new parking and development space. The record for average parking-spot prices is HK$660,000 ($85,161), set in the fourth quarter of 1997, just before the city's last major real estate crash. Now the government has a new concern: A bubble erupting on the parking space market, as it did in the apartment market where prices have doubled in four years, driven by near record-low interest rates and an influx of money from China. Midland Holdings Ltd. notes there were more than 8,300 parking space transactions in Hong Kong in the first 10 months of this year, accounting for 8.9 percent of all property deals. That percentage is the highest since records were first kept in 1997. Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has unveiled three major sets of curbs on home buying since taking over in July. But most analysts in this region say there is just too much cash lying around in Hong Kong these days, begging for profitable ventures. Another factor: Banks continue to lend, at low interest rates, on most of the new real estate-related business. For example, a space in the exclusive Repulse Bay area sold in May for HK$3 million ($387,000 US), the most for a single transaction and more than double the median U.S. home price, according to CarparkHK.com, a website that tallies parking-spot information. Home prices gained 4.4 percent in the third quarter, according to Centaline, the city's biggest closely held realtor by market share. Hong Kong already is the priciest place to buy a home, according to broker Savills Plc (SVS), which compared prices in 10 cities, including New York and London. Most parking spaces in Hong Kong, including those inside residential complexes, are freely transferable with separate ownership titles from the apartments. Some garages have rules prohibiting non-residents from entering and parking on the premises. Spaces in industrial and commercial buildings also are transferable, though landlords at most prime-office and shopping locations normally hold on to parking spaces to benefit from the stable rental returns they provide, Bloomberg reports. Hong Kong banks normally lend a maximum 50 percent of a parking space's value, compared with 70 percent for residential properties because parking-space mortgages are riskier for banks compared with residential-and commercial-property mortgages, Developers often sell the spaces independently from the residential units. For example, Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd. sold 514 parking spaces at its Festival City project in the city's north on Nov. 24 for HK$980,000 to HK$1.3 million. One Hong Dollar equals $0.1290 US. While realtors post listings of parking spaces for sale and charge fees on deals, few brokers specialize in them because the margin is too small. Most buyers go to websites such as CarparkHK.com or ParkingHK.com, which partners with Hong Kong City Parking, for information. - See more at: http://www.worldpropertychannel.com/asia-pacific-commercial-news/hong-kong-parking-centaline-property-agency-ltd-carparkhkcom-savills-plc-svs-colliers-international-leung-chun-ying-6378.php#sthash.hE9UJDUy.dpuf

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Hotel Investment Activity to Uptick Sooner in the Americas than Most Global Markets - See more at: http://www.worldpropertychannel.com/north-america-vacation-news/hot6el-investment-report-americas-lodging-investment-summit-alis-jones-lang-lasalle-hotels-hospitality-group-jll-hotel-investments-arthur-adler-6517.php#sthash.DTLdaYCg.dpuf


European-hotel.jpg At the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) last week in Los Angeles, Jones Lang LaSalle's (JLL) Hotels & Hospitality Group reported five forces which will drive the hotel investment market during the next five years. JLL also predicted global hotel deal volume is projected to remain in line with the most recent three-year average in 2013, but points to signs that an on-going uptick in Americas hotel transactions activity sooner rather than later. - See more at: http://www.worldpropertychannel.com/north-america-vacation-news/hot6el-investment-report-americas-lodging-investment-summit-alis-jones-lang-lasalle-hotels-hospitality-group-jll-hotel-investments-arthur-adler-6517.php#sthash.DTLdaYCg.dpuf

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Cayman Island's $700 Million Camana Bay Mixed-Use Project Gaining Traction Amongst Hedge Fund Crowd - See more at: http://www.worldpropertychannel.com/latin-america-commercial-news/camana-bay-ken-dart-dart-realty-cayman-hedge-funds-seven-mile-beach-cayman-island-hedge-fund-industry-changes-mitt-romney-michael-joseph-jackie-doak-6536.php#sthash.4fVeyeUP.dpuf


(Grand Cayman Island) -- Despite receiving a negative label in the recent US presidential race as a 'safe haven for tax dodging rich politicians' (as some tried to paint Mitt Romney in 2012); the Cayman Island's hedge fund eco-system is thriving today.

The Cayman Island's financial industry is actually a legitimate, transparent and legal tax haven for wealthy individuals worldwide to execute more efficient tax strategies for their money.  Gone are the days of drug lords and dictators laundering their suitcases full of cash from over three decades ago.

Today the Cayman Island's banking and financial industry is one of the most regulated and scrutinized financial markets in the world. It is far harder to get Government approval to open a bank account in the Caymans than in any US bank due to the extensive background checks the Government performs.

Since 2000, there has been enormous growth in the Hedge Fund governance industry. Separate from the estimated 9,500 registered hedge funds in the Cayman Islands today, there is also a highly experienced hedge fund industry support infrastructure (law firms, CPAs, tax advisers, bankers, recruiters and administrators) in place.

The island enjoys having many top tier law firms to help fund managers set up and structure their funds; top audit firms and experienced fund administrators on the ground make it easy to set up funds here. Speed to market coupled with its mature support services industry gives the Cayman Islands a competitive advantage over other fund domiciles worldwide.

With their growing Hedge Fund and support services industries, one long-time local developer, Ken Dart, founder of Dart Realty, has been quietly building and successfully leasing a $700 million mixed-use project on Grand Cayman island over the last 5 years called Camana Bay.

Camana Bay is a vibrant new town center located in the heart of Grand Cayman Island. The mixed-use project stretches over 500 acres from the famous Seven Mile Beach to the tranquil North Sound; this master planned community opened in December 2007 and is one of the first examples of New Urbanism in the Caribbean.

Camana Bay's initial phase I of 544,000 square feet of mixed-use space is completed. The project consists of 312,000 square feet of class A office space and is currently 93% leased. 63 high-end terrace apartments account for another 94,000 square feet total and is 100% leased with a waiting list of future tenants. Retail space is the final component of the project.  The 138,000 square feet of space is currently 80% leased.

Today, Camana Bay has a long roster of top-tier commercial tenants that includes Ernst & Young, BNY Mellon, Citco, Aon, Gran - See more at: http://www.worldpropertychannel.com/latin-america-commercial-news/camana-bay-ken-dart-dart-realty-cayman-hedge-funds-seven-mile-beach-cayman-island-hedge-fund-industry-changes-mitt-romney-michael-joseph-jackie-doak-6536.php#sthash.4fVeyeUP.dpuf

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