SINGAPORE: ARA Asset Management and Qatar's Regency Group plan to launch the first real estate investment trust (REIT) in Singapore that will comply with Islamic principles, as investor interest returns to the REIT sector.

KUALA LUMPUR: Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), Malaysia’s biggest state asset manager, said it is seeking ways to “maximise” returns on its newly merged property unit, including a possible initial share sale.

“We will have to look at what’s the best for us,” PNB CEO Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman told reporters here on Dec 14. “It’s a matter of opportunity,” he said.

HONG KONG: The property market in China has “strong fundamentals”, reducing the risks of an asset bubble building up in the world’s third-largest economy, a representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.

Real estate prices are “rising after a long slump”, Vivek Arora, the fund’s senior resident representative in China, said in an interview in Hong Kong on Dec 14.

KUALA LUMPUR: A state Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (Rehda) meeting will be called before the Christmas holidays to discuss the indefinite suspension of Kedah’s land swapping policy by the state government, says a spokesperson of Rehda Kedah/Perlis branch.

KUALA LUMPUR: An injunction from the court has stopped and restrained Bukit Jalil Development Sdn Bhd, a 70%-owned subsidiary of Ho Hup Construction Company Bhd, from selling or continuing any tender exercise to sell a piece of freehold land in Mukim of Petaling, Kuala Lumpur.

KUALA LUMPUR: Kumpulan Europlus Bhd, a company on Bursa Malaysia’s construction index, recorded a net loss of RM16.44 million for its 3Q ended Oct 31, 2009 (3QFY2010), from net profits of RM1.65 million a year earlier despite higher revenue.

KUALA LUMPUR: Concrete Engineering Products Bhd, a manufacturer and distributor of pre-stressed spun concrete piles and poles, acquired a 347,666 sq ft land in Batang Kali, Selangor, for RM6.5 million.

PETALING JAYA: Four key property sectors in Hong Kong – office, residential, industrial and retail property markets – have entered a recovery stage since 4Q2009, leading by this year’s sales market, managing director of Colliers International Hong Kong Richard Kirke said.

PETALING JAYA: Hong Kong’s luxury residential sector led the property recovery cycle in the first 11 months this year, with the price growth of 40%, executive director of residential sales of Colliers International Hong Kong Ricky Poon said.

* Lacklustre market with some interest in mid-caps

The KLSE Property Index ended the week flat with marginal loss of 0.1%.