IN a capitulation that speaks to the depth of the slump in India’s economy, usually tight-fisted retail landlords have become uncharacteristically flexible on rents, as Lacoste India CEO Rajesh Jain knows well.

HONG KONG: More than half of all purchases of prime retail properties in central London so far this year worth over £350 million (RM1.76 billion) were made by Hong Kong investors, according to research by property consultant Savills.

THE housing market in the Klang Valley has been mostly stable, with increases in capital values in some locations, remarks Nabeel Hussein, CB Richard Ellis Malaysia's vice-president of research and consultancy, after releasing the 2Q2013 The Edge/CB Richard Ellis Klang Valley Housing Property Monitor.

KUALA LUMPUR: With the upcoming budget sending mixed signals to the real estate market, Datuk Vincent Tiew, acting executive director and head of sales and marketing at Andaman Property Management Sdn Bhd, said it may not be very friendly for property developers and investors.

KUALA LUMPUR: The proposed RM2.3 billion, 13.5km Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (KiDEx), which will run from the New Klang Valley Expressway’s Damansara toll plaza to the Bukit Jalil Highway near Kinrara, may affect about 3,784 residential and commercial lots of land within the Petaling district.

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) faces a temporary hiccup in its airport hotel business following a termination of a joint-venture agreement (JVA) between its wholly owned subsidiary, KL Airport Hotel Sdn Bhd (KLAH), and Atoz Hospitality Services Sdn Bhd.

KUALA LUMPUR: Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd (KPS) will pay out a special dividend of 26.67 sen per share amounting to RM99 million funded with proceeds from the divestment of its stake in Kumpulan Hartanah Selangor Bhd (KHSB).

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares in Focal Aims Holdings Bhd, which is being taken over by EcoWorld Development Holdings Sdn Bhd and Liew Tian Xiong at RM1.40 per share, have been chased for the second consecutive day to close above the offer price yesterday.

THE Ministry of Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government is studying the possibility of increasing the real property gains tax (RPGT) to stabilise the prices of houses in the country.The current RPGT is not effective in stabilising house prices and may need to be increased to curb unhealthy speculation, minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan told reporters after launching the 16th Malaysia Ho

THEY say necessity is the mother of invention and this cannot be truer than for Kueen Lai Group of Companies managing director Datuk Eng Soo Min.The third among nine siblings, the Kajang boy recalls a hard childhood. "I had to walk 8km to school and I would have only 10 sen a day, enough for a drink or food, but not both." Eng stopped school after Form 2 and soon found work as a mechanic.