KUALA LUMPUR: Credit Suisse says infrastructure investment was the key driver of almost all the sales recovery in construction machines in 2009 in China. But in 2010, it believes infrastructure growth will slow down.

PUTRAJAYA: Parking woes in Putrajaya, which have been described as reaching a critical level, will be lessened once a 2-storey car park is built in Precinct 7 where the government offices complex is located.

SIBU: Sarawak housing project contractors should use the industrial building system (IBS) technology to carry out future housing projects, said state housing and urban development minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg.

He reasoned that the IBS was cheap, fast and the finished workmanship would be durable and of high quality.

KUALA LUMPUR: The government wants the developer responsible for developing areas in Sentul, to include low-cost houses in their proposed mixed development project, said Federal Territories and Wellbeing deputy minister Datuk M Saravanan.

Mainland banks in Shanghai's red-hot housing market lent 99.58 billion yuan (RM48.67 billion) in new mortgages last year, up dramatically from 5.8 billion yuan in 2008, as home seekers rushed to buy and prices hit new highs.The banks lent 38.93 billion yuan to buyers of new residential properties and 60.65 billion yuan to buyers of second-hand homes, the Shanghai office of the People's Bank of

SEOUL: South Korea's capital Seoul appears vulnerable to possible earthquake threats as less than nine percent of the buildings in the city, are designed to be earthquake-resistant, the city government said Tuesday.

LONDON: Land Securities is banking on development to spearhead its 2010 expansion plans as the UK's elite property firms moot the most efficient ways to grow profits as the market romps towards another pricing bubble.

SYDNEY: Australia's unlisted property funds posted positive returns in the fourth quarter -- their first since August 2008 -- on fewer property valuation write-downs, property research firm IPD said on Jan 19.

PARIS: A French court on Jan 18 ordered a group of young squatters to quit a 17th century mansion they are occupying in one of Paris's most picturesque squares.

KUALA LUMPUR: An exclusive gated and guarded luxury project in Damansara Heights in Kuala Lumpur, Zephyr Point on Basong (pictured), will be completed and launched end April by Urban Hallmark Properties Sdn Bhd (UHP).