NEW YORK: Signs are that some overseas buyers are drifting back into the New York real estate market, betting a decline in prices may be about to turn.

The dollar's recent rally, rather than putting off foreign buyers, is encouraging them to jump into the market before it rallies further and drives up prices, insiders say.

KUALA LUMPUR: Gamuda Bhd's earnings rose 38% to RM68.03 million in the second quarter ended Jan 31, 2010 (2Q2010) from RM49.05 million a year ago, boosted by the strong performances in all its divisions.

It said on Thursday, March 25 that revenue was RM603.24 million compared with RM591.73 million. Earnings per share were 3.37 sen versus 2.45 sen.

PETALING JAYA: Talam Corp Bhd recorded a 25.27% drop in pre-tax profit of RM10.59 million for its fourth quarter ended Jan 31, 2010 (4Q2010), compared with RM14.17 million achieved in the same period last year.

PETALING JAYA: Jastamax Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mah Sing Bhd, has received notification from its solicitors that State Authority Consent has been obtained for the acquisition of a 7-storey retail and office space known as Apex Tower by a Taiwan national, Chen Ho-Yuan.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime home prices fell in most locations last year except for key Asian cities. According to the Knight Frank Prime International Residential Index released recently, the price of prime residential property fell almost 75% globally but several cities in Asia bucked the trend as prices rose over 40% in Shanghai (+52%), Beijing (+47%) and Hong Kong (+40.5%).

HONG KONG: New mortgage loans approved in Hong Kong in February fell 10.1% in value terms from January, but were up 132.8% from the same period a year earlier, data from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) showed.

New loans approved in February totalled HK$26.6 billion (RM11.31 billion), down from HK$29.6 billion in the previous month, the HKMA said on Thursday (March 25).

KUALA LUMPUR: New York has dethroned London to become the world’s most influential city, while Asian cities continue to gain ground.

The “Big Apple” moved into first place of the latest Knight Frank World Cities Survey, pushing London off the top-spot it held last year.

KAJANG: Metro Kajang Holdings Bhd plans to launch its 270-acre Kajang 2 township in the first quarter of its financial year ended Sept 30, 2011.

Group managing director, Datuk Eddy Chen said the project with a gross development value (GDV) of RM1.4 billion is located between Bandar Baru Bangi and Kajang town in Selangor.

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia's parliament is to debate a law next month that would allow foreigners to own property directly, one of the aims being to attract more investors to the Southeast Asian country.

Until now, foreigners wanting to buy property have had to do it through a Cambodian representative.

KUALA LUMPUR: Real estate agency Reapfield Properties Sdn Bhd, which has a work force of 650 and 13 offices, is marking its 25th anniversary in the industry.

It will be celebrating its silver jubilee with the theme of “Celebrating 25 years-Building on Excellence” at One World hotel with 600 guests on March 26.