KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 22): DRB-Hicom Bhd announced on Wednesday it had entered into an agreement to swap the Malay Reserve (MR) status of a plot of land in Langkawi with the non-MR status of a piece of land in Kedah for RM76 million.

PETALING JAYA (Dec 22): The share price of Ho Hup Construction Co Bhd tanked on Wednesday after the Court of Appeal has reversed the High Court's judgment on declaring the joint development agreement (JDA) on a parcel of land near Bukit Jalil as void.

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 21): Property developer LBS Bina Group Bhd is confident of achieving RM800 million sales target despite tough market conditions.

In a statement on Wednesday, managing director Datuk Lim Hock San said 2012 was expected to be a challenging yet confident year for LBS.

SHANGHAI (Dec 21): Cash-strapped mainland developers are resorting to selling land as they battle to repay debts — and that is drawing a growing number of foreign real estate funds into a hunt for bargain-priced properties.

HONG KONG (Dec 21): Housing estates in Island East and the New Territories outperformed all other districts in Hong Kong to record the strongest growth in capital values this year.

HONG KONG (Dec 21): Hong Kong remains the most expensive retail address in the Asia-Pacific region, but Shanghai is rapidly climbing the rankings ladder, say property consultants.

PARIS (Dec 21): The property market in Paris has undergone a dizzying boom in the midst of Europe's debt crisis, driven by French buyers pouring money into what they saw as good-as-gold investments. Now the same crisis could prick the bubble.

The listing of Pavilion REIT earlier this month is likely to have attracted more investor interest to the entire asset class. Real estate investment trusts (REIT) are widely regarded as relatively defensive investing options, which would be appealing under the prevailing uncertainties over the health of the global economy.

HONG KONG (Dec 21): Swire Pacific Ltd said on Wednesday that the spinoff of Swire Properties Ltd by way of introduction would be achieved by a distribution of shares in the unit to existing shareholders, with a market debut scheduled for Jan 18.

WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 21): Production of new single-family homes and apartments rose 9.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000 units in November, according to figures released by the US Commerce Department on Tuesday. This marks the fastest pace of housing starts since October 2008.