〈Asian Post, September 2, 2017〉Savvy Hong Kong property investors intending to buy overseas property may need to focus on the volatile currency market more than any other factor, as even a small movement in the sector could affect returns and the price of luxury properties in major cities, according to a report.

The Global Currency Monitor Report, released by international property consultants Knight Frank, suggests that currency market movements can have a significant impact on the returns provided by an overseas asset, and on the flow of international capital into property markets.

The annual report assesses the impact of currency movements for international investors buying luxury residential properties around the world.

Property agents say Hong Kong investors need to pay heed to the report as London, New York, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland have all been affected by currency fluctuations in the value of the pound and the respective dollars of the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

Nicholas Holt, Asia-Pacific head of research at Knight Frank, says that currency will continue to be a driving factor for property purchaser patterns and property asset performance.

"Given the monetary tightening cycle now taking place in the US, those with US dollar or linked currencies will find their spending power enhanced compared to many other markets and [this] could influence the direction of capital flows," Holt says.

"Currency can influence returns at the purchase, hold and disposal stages, and investors need to be aware of how fluctuations can impact [on] total returns over the lifetime of an investment."

Holt says that, despite the significant impact currency can have on an overseas investment, fundamental market indicators such as price performance and yield should not be overlooked.

The currency report highlighted the greenback as a case study. The dollar appreciated 21 per cent from June 2014 to January 2016, making it more expensive for international buyers to buy in the US, which contributed to the 25 per cent fall in non-resident property purchases over the period.Currency can influence returns at the purchase, hold and disposal stages, and investors need to be aware of how fluctuations can impact total returns over the lifetime of an investment Nicholas Holt, Asia-Pacific head of research, Knight FrankOn the flip side, purchases by US residents increased 10 per cent over the period, according to statistics from the National Association of Realtors in the US.

〈Asian Post, September 2, 2017〉Sun Hongbin, chairman of Sunac, said at its interim results news conference in Hong Kong that the company will follow more prudent land acquisition principles amid an over heated land market, while speeding up the construction of its ongoing projects, and increasing sales turnover to bring in more revenue.

Sunac targets to cut its net gearing ratio to 90 percent by next year and 70 percent by 2019 from a 260 percent net gearing ratio it recorded on June 30. Gao Xi, Sunac company secretary and vice-president, said buying land and strategically investing in LeEco hurt the company’s net debt ratio performance in the first half of this year. Debt ratio doesn’t automatically represent the safety of a company’s cash flow in the real estate industry, however, and Sunac had been keeping safe and ample cash flow, which mostly relied on property sales.

Sunac’s land bank carried 101 million square meters, excluding the 13 Wanda cultural and tourism projects, as of August 25, across eight regions including Beijing, Northern China, Shanghai, Southwest China, Southeast China, Central China, Guangzhou-Shenzhen and Hainan, with an attributable land bank of 69.44 million square meters.

The company cash had reached approximately 92.4 billion yuan ($14 billion) and rigid interest bearing liabilities due in the second half of the year will be less than 15.8 billion yuan.

The company in January announced it would acquire 8.61 percent of the issued shares of Leshi Internet, 15.71 percent of Leshi Pictures, and 33.5 percent of Leshi Zhixin, with total capital of 15.04 billion yuan. All payments had been made to LeEco. According to the company, the investment would not result in any change in total assets, total liabilities or net assets of the group. Sun said that he appreciated the former chief executive of Le.com and LeEco Jia Yueting’s entrepreneurial spirit and his foresight on internet TV business.

〈Shanghai Daily, September 1, 2017〉Housing prices in China grew the fastest in the world over the past year while Toronto in Canada saw the biggest rise in housing prices globally, a latest research released by Hurun Research Institute has found.

Six of the 10 cities that recorded the highest house price changes around the globe in the 12 months through June were located in China, with Wuxi in Jiangsu Province leading with a year-on-year growth of 22.9 percent, according to the Hurun Global House Price Index 2017 Half-Year released yesterday.

Wuxi followed the 26.1 percent annual gain in Toronto and the 23 percent increase in Reykjavik in Iceland, the Hurun report revealed.

Hong Kong, where housing prices rose 20.8 percent year on year, trailed Wuxi in No. 4 and Zhengzhou, Changsha, Guangzhou and Shijiazhuang also made it into the Top 10 list.

Of the top 50 cities spread over 12 countries, China has the most with 21 cities, followed by seven from the US, six from Germany, four from Canada and three from Australia. Shanghai ranked No. 42 with an annual house price rise of 10 percent, the smallest gain among the 21 Chinese cities in the Top 50 list.

Toronto, with an annual return of 32.4 percent, also ranked the highest in a separate Hurun China HNWI Global Property ROI 2017 Half-Year, which takes into account the annual house price changes, rental yields as well as the local currency against the yuan.

Sixteen of the top 50 cities in the Hurun China HNWI Global Property ROI 2017 Half-Year saw returns of over 20 percent. “Global asset allocation is one of the biggest trends now for China’s high net worth individuals, led by real estate,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report.

〈The Standard, September 1, 2017〉Home prices hit a fresh record in July even as growth slowed to its weakest pace in 16 months, according to government data released yesterday.

The index tracking the prices of private homes inched up 0.09 percent in July compared to June, according to the Rating and Valuation Department.

The index surged 19.6 percent compared to the figure a year ago. The index has been scaling record highs for nine consecutive months.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has pledged to tackle soaring home prices in Hong Kong, where an apartment of less than 200 square feet can cost as much as HK$4 million.

Earlier this week, Lam unveiled the Task Force on Land Supply, which aims to launch a public consultation and draw up a broad framework of recommendations on the overall land supply strategy within a year and a half.

"The work of developing land is urgent," she said. Lam said in an interview last month the "ultimate solution" in making housing more affordable lies with increasing supply.

While the government estimates a record-high number of flats will come to the market in the next three to four years, analysts say tightening measures such as high stamp duties have effectively locked up the supply in the secondary housing market.

Property consultant JLL said under the existing cooling measures, the secondary sales market is facing a deadlock, the larger pool of flats available for sale in the secondary market "should restrain developers from aggressively pushing primary prices higher.''

According to the Transport and Housing Bureau, the supply will reach 98,000 new flats over the next three to four years.

A monthly research report published by Knight Franks said residential sales plunged 42.4 percent in July from June to only 3,515 deals. Primary sales fell about 60 percent to 952 transactions, as fewer new flats were launched, it added.

Meanwhile, the number of mortgage applications in July fell 38 percent from June to 9,090, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said.

Mortgage loans approved in July decreased 23.5 percent compared with June to HK$33.7 billion. Among these, mortgage loans financing primary-market transactions fell 26.3 percent to HK$7.5 billion and those financing secondary-market transactions plunged 26.1 percent to HK$14.4 billion.

〈Taipei Daily, September 1, 2017〉In one of its 46m2 apartments, 30 residents live in purpose-built plywood bunk beds, each with its own sliding door, colloquially known as "coffins." Two rows of bunks, 16 bunks in each row — still space for two more people.

The residents are retirees, working poor, drug addicts and people with mental illnesses, mostly those unable to keep pace with the spiraling cost of housing in Hong Kong.

In many ways their home feels like a railroad sleeper car, but even more cramped and uncomfortable, and with none of the charm or romanticism that comes with train travel.

For a week I lived at Lucky House, crammed at night in a stuffy bunk teeming with bed bugs, my days spent lazing around with not much to do besides talk to the other residents, stare at my mobile phone and sleep.

When I enter my coffin for the first time, I immediately notice the strong musty smell. I imagine the other residents in their bunks, each one roughly 60cm wide and 170cm long, with only enough space to sit up. Living in such a confining space takes a mental toll, but my week pales in comparison to the other residents who have been living there for months, sometimes years.

At night I can hear everything happening around me: every punch, kick and scream from my neighbor’s kung fu movie; the smacking of lips eating barbecue meat with rice; a brief argument over who will use the sole shower next and, of course, a symphony of snoring.

The next morning the sound of a plastic travel alarm clock first wakes me at 5:30am. However, in my coffin, there is almost no sense of time. It could be any hour of the day, and no natural light would reach me. For that I would have to leave my bunk and walk to the sole window at the other end of the apartment.