VANCOUVER: The rising price tags on luxury houses in Vancouver are a sign of China's  expanding wealth as Chinese buyers seek a home for cash in the face of property investment curbs at home.

CARACAS: The hillside slum of "Las Mayas" provides both great vistas of Caracas and an ideal view of a housing crisis shaping into a major battleground for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's re-election bid.

Along one side of the once-forested slopes, shacks of corrugated iron, wood and mud cling precariously to land that erodes a little bit further whenever it rains.

KUALA LUMPUR: The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) line-up may be amended, at the mid-year semi-annual periodic review, to include Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering (MMHE) Bhd and UEM Land Bhd as possible new index constituents.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Setia City Mall in S P Setia Bhd's Setia Alam township has signed on tenants for over 75% of its net lettable area (NLA) to date. The mall has over 740,000 sq ft NLA. About 160 tenants out of a possible 250 have already signed on a year before the mall's opening.

KUALA LUMPUR: The worldwide office real estate market continues to recover as indicated by CB Richard Ellis Group Inc's (CBRE) latest Global Office Rent Index and Global Office Capital Value Index.

KUALA LUMPUR: Following more than two months of exclusive member previews, UOA Development Bhd has opened sales of its Camellia Serviced Suites in Bangsar South to the public.

According to David Khor, development division chief operating officer, the residences are recording encouraging sales despite the fact that the project has not been officially launched.

KUALA LUMPUR: Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd's latest development called Sera — comprising 40 units of 3-storey twin villas — has seen a 70% take-up rate to date, with another 20% of the development booked.

Its property services division head Syed Farouk Azlan Syed Abdul Aziz told theedgeproperty.com that only 10% of the 40 unit twin villas are left on the market.

HONG KONG: Property sales in the Asia Pacific — half of which are accounted for by the mainland market — are expected to be flat this year after hitting record levels in 2010.

HONG KONG: Despite recent mortgage rate rises, sales of new homes at some developments in Hong Kong remain satisfactory, agents say. Seventy-four new flats were sold last weekend, up from 57 on May 21 and 22.

HONG KONG: Investments in vineyards is on the rise across the world as prices for these types of properties have retreated in most locations, research from estate agency Knight Frank shows.

Chinese businesses are among those entering the market.