SHANGHAI: Much of the new lending currently taking place in China is due more to banks' willingness to expand credit in the market as a result of strong economic fundamentals, rather than a loosening of loan policies for homebuyers, said Lina Wong, Colliers International's managing director for East and Southeast China.

BEIJING: Investors who bet that China will declare an early end to its property tightening campaign are doing so at their own peril.

While the government is likely to fine-tune real estate policy as the economy softens in the coming months, it is not about to reverse tightening measures that it believes are critical to safeguarding China's long-run growth prospects.

KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Investment Bank (RHB IB), which is the stabilising manager for the Sunway Real Estate Investment Trust (SunREIT), has acquired a total of 29 million units over three trading days since the REIT's listing last Thursday, July 8, pursuant to the price stabilisation mechanism.

KUALA LUMPUR: KLCC Property Holdings Bhd's (KLCCP) Lot C, which is a new extension to Suria KLCC with office blocks and a retail podium, is slated to be ready by next year.

The company's CEO Hashim Wahir said the RM1 billion Lot C is on schedule for completion by Oct 2011, while the retail podium will have tenants moving in early next year.

KUALA LUMPUR: LBS Bina Group Bhd is planning to raise RM135 million via a sukuk programme to finance its housing development projects in Batu Pahat, Cameron Highlands and Puchong valued at RM600 million.

LBS has appointed MIMB Investment Bank Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of EON Bank Bhd, as the principal adviser and lead arranger for the sukuk programme.

URUMQI: More than three years after securing the rights to build a ski resort in the Tian Shan mountains, an hour's drive from Urumqi in northwestern Xinjiang province, developers have yet to begin construction.

HONG KONG: Both owner-occupiers and investors are returning to the property market in growing numbers with expectations that prices are set to rise substantially in the near future.

HONG KONG: Surging house prices in the luxury sector have encouraged owners to put top-priced properties up for sale — with a Repulse Bay property likely to carry a price tag of about HK$1 billion (RM409.95 million), according to agents.

KUALA LUMPUR: Bandar Raya Developments Bhd (BRDB) on Tuesday, July 13, signed three memorandums of understanding (MOU) with Multi-Purpose Holdings Bhd (MPHB) to collaboratively develop several parcels of land in Penang (80 acres), as well as in Rawang (267 acres) and Gombak, Selangor (324 acres).

PETALING JAYA: Boustead Properties, the developer of the Mutiara Damansara township in Petaling Jaya, has sold 80% of Surian Residences, its latest condominium project in the township.