KUALA LUMPUR: A framework on developing green townships will be ready by end of the year, Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry's senior undersecretary for green technology sector Mohd Rosli Abdullah said.

MECCA: The Mayor of Mecca, Dr Osama Al-Bar, who is also a member of the Central Haj Committee and Chairman and Chief Excecutive of the Mecca Development Authority, has promised that a number of large projects currently underway in the city will be completed by 2012.

CHINA: The Chinese government plans to impose property tax in Shanghai and Chongqing by the years' end to curb property speculation, according to a report by online news portal soufun.com.

PETALING JAYA: Mitraland Group plans to launch the second phase of The Cascades @ Kota Damansara in Petaling Jaya, Selangor within the next two months.

The developer said that indicative prices for the second phase, which comprises apartment units, are between RM550 psf and RM600 psf.

KUALA LUMPUR: Kedah Gerakan Youth urged the state government to fulfill its pledge to stop the increase of the Bumiputra quota for housing development.

In a media statement on Monday, Oct 18, the youth division said the state government made its pledge in Decemeber last year to stop the increase of the Bumiputra quota from 30% to 50% for housing developments.

KUALA LUMPUR: Property developer Tambun Indah Land Bhd has been given the nod by the Securities Commission to be listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia.

In a statement Monday, Oct 18, its managing director Teh Kiak Seng said it was timely for the company to come to market to be listed in view of the increasing demand for properties on mainland Penang.

HONG KONG: The controversial rent-to-buy scheme — supposedly a short-term relief measure for better-off home hunters — could be expanded if the response is good, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has hinted.

SHANGHAI: Despite the central government's attempts to cool the property market, a Shanghai district government last Thursday, Oct 14 released seven sites for sale.

HONG KONG: Elderly residents in crumbling areas of Kowloon City would like to take advantage of the new flat-for-flat scheme — but only if their new homes are as big as their old ones and they do not have to pay any extra money.

HONG KONG: The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) cannot afford to build only cheaper flats because it has to pay its own way under the government's new renewal strategy and needs revenue from luxury flats to stay in the black, Development Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said last Thursday, Oct 14.