KUALA LUMPUR: Household debt in Malaysia, which reached 86.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) at end-2013, may continue to rise in the near term.

Fitch Ratings, in its comment on Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) latest figures on the country’s household debt, said the rising trend will increase risks on at least two fronts.

KUALA LUMPUR: Pacific and Orient Bhd (P&O) has entered into an agreement to purchase a tract of land in Miami, Florida for US$7.42 million (RM24.5 million).

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the company said the land, measuring 3.22 acres (1.3ha), will be purchased by its subsidiary P&O Global Technologies Inc from Bianca Investments LLC, which is based in Delaware.

KUALA LUMPUR: Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) has not received a proposal from tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary to acquire a substantial interest in S P Setia Bhd, in which PNB has a 64.08% stake.

“I’ve not received anything so I cannot comment on that,” said Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman, president and group chief executive of PNB.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians are adjusting to the new “cooling measures” in the property sector, adopting a cautious approach to purchasing or investing. They are waiting to see how the cooling measures announced in Budget 2014 will affect the property market, iProperty group chief executive officer Shaun Di Gregorio said.

KUALA LUMPUR: Bolstered by the demand for commercial and residential real estate in Central and West End London, the UK capital’s real estate market is expected to continue to perform well in 2014, said the country’s property experts.According to Dr Megan Walters, head of research for Asia-Pacific capital markets at Jones Lang LaSalle, both commercial and residential sectors remain popular.Walt

BANGKOK: Office rents are expected to continue to grow, albeit at a slower rate as office buildings that command a premium rent are almost full, according to CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) Research Thailand’s latest MarketView report.High occupancy and limited new office supply mean that rentals will not fall even with weaker demands due to political uncertainty, said CBRE.In the fourth quarter of 201

PETALING JAYA: DA Land Sdn Bhd has appointed Australian-based Sanderson Group Private Ltd to design, build and manage the operations of DA Land’s theme park in The TWO in Rawang.The RM5 billion The TWO is designed to be a three-in-one development comprising a theme park resort, wholesale city and outlet mall.

KUALA LUMPUR: Genuine demand will lead the property market this year as the market is expected to cool down and stabilise with prices finding a more realistic level, according to property consultant C H William Talhar & Wong Sdn Bhd (WTW).The volume of transactions will continue to fall on the back of reduced speculation, with prices expected to see moderate growth this year, said managing

KUALA LUMPUR: Pavilion Real Estate Investment Trust (Pavilion REIT) believes its rental reversion rates, an increase in rental rates to reflect prevailing market conditions, will still be strong despite challenging times ahead due to rising costs.

KUALA LUMPUR: S P Setia Bhd has set a lower sales target of RM5 billion for the financial year ending Oct 31 (FY14), much lower than the RM8.2 billion recorded in FY13. However, the group’s strong unbilled sales of RM9.64 billion are expected to cushion the lower sales figure.