HONG KONG: Banks in Hong Kong are raising mortgage interest rates, signalling an end to cut-throat competition in the sector as the overall economy recovers, analysts said.

In the past two weeks the Hang Seng, Standard Chartered and Wing Lung banks effectively raised the margin they impose on mortgages priced against the Hong Kong interbank offered rate (Hibor).

Landed home prices still on an uptrendHousing prices in the Klang Valley, especially for  landed homes on the secondary market, will continue to rise for the rest of the year and into 2011.
CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) Malaysia managing director Allan Soo foresees prices continuing to increase in the short term, possibly stabilising only at end-2011 or beyond.

Singapore, HK provide models for Penang Housing BoardPenang is setting up its own Penang Housing Board (PHB), modelled after the successful Singapore Housing Development Board (HDB) and Hong Kong’s Housing Authority (HKHA) in a long-term bid to streamline the development of housing in the state.

EPF, KWAP make first purchase in London Malaysia’s two main government pension funds have acquired an office building in Britain as part of plans to invest up to £1 billion (RM5 billion) in the British property market.

Brazil, a country that is mostly known for its tropical weather and love of football and carnivals, hardly comes to mind when one talks about “green and sustainable living”. But a closer look at the southern part of the republic reveals Curitiba, the well-planned and sustainable capital city of the state of Paraná.

Transaction volume may have thinned in 3Q2010, but in the rarefied space of good class bungalows (GCBs) in the prime districts of Singapore, prices have continued to soar. However, there has been some resistance building up, says Steven Ming, executive director of investment sales and Prestige Homes at Savills Singapore.

S P Setia hits RM2 bil sales target S P Setia Bhd had recorded sales of RM1.95 billion as at Aug 31, achieving its FY2010 sales target of RM2 billion with two months to spare. The 10-month sales value exceeded the group’s highest sales value of RM1.65 billion recorded in FY2009 by 18%.

Mutiara in JV with MK LandMutiara Goodyear Development Bhd (Mutiara) is planning to develop a piece of land in Sepang, Selangor, in a joint venture with Paramoden Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of MK Land Holdings Bhd.Mutiara, via its wholly owned subsidiary Susuran Timur Sdn Bhd, entered into a joint development agreement with Paramoden on Sept 30.

PJD to launch RM750m GDV project in CherasPJ Development Holdings Bhd (PJD) is expected to launch an integrated development with a gross development value (GDV) of about RM750 million in Cheras by the middle of 2011, said its managing director Wong Ah Chiew last Monday.

TA Global forms JV on Sydney project TA Global Bhd is partnering Sydney-based property fund management and development company Charter Hall Group to develop Little Bay, a A$600 million (RM1.84 billion) residential project in Sydney, Australia.