NEW YORK CITY (Jan 12): Three-quarters of executives from the US property insurance industry expect profitability to improve this year, amid widespread signs of a return to pricing power, the Insurance Information Institute said on Wednesday.

NEW YORK (Jan 12): A bankruptcy judge on Wednesday gave Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc the go-ahead to match a US$1.325 billion (RM4.16 billion) offer from Sam Zell's Equity Residential for a stake in apartment company Archstone.

Malaysia Steel Works (KL) Bhd (Masteel) CEO Datuk Seri Tai Hean Leng shares his views and outlook on the year ahead.

Building materials
Maintain neutral: We expect the construction sector to be buoyant on the whole in 2012, but the steel sector will be in a contraction mode.

HONG KONG (Jan 11): Strong demand for flats in The Coronation in West Kowloon is due, property analysts say, to keen pricing and its proximity to the express railway to Guangzhou now under construction rather than a sea-change in buyer sentiment.

HONG KONG (Jan 11): Prices of sites in industrial district Wong Chuk Hang are soaring, and the area is likely to see significant change with a new MTR line being built nearby.

HONG KONG (Jan 11): Investment in the Hong Kong property sector is likely to dip this year because returns on assets have fallen to unattractive levels, according to consultant DTZ.

Last year a rise in property prices drove yields in most sectors downwards, Alvin Yip, DTZ's co-head of investment, China, said.

LONDON (Jan 11): Young Britons are being forced to forget a decades-old hope of home ownership, and new government measures won't give many the chance to buy their first home this year or further in the future.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): UEM Land Holdings Bhd is targeting RM3 billion in property sales this year, riding on new launches with a gross development value (GDV) of RM5.5 billion.

HONG KONG (Jan 11): Property brokerage Colliers International said on Wednesday it had struck a partnership deal in South Korea with the Real Estate Development Network.