〈Asian Post, October 14, 2017〉Frank Chan Fan says government plans to promote initiatives that help people in rented accommodation achieve their dream of buying a home

Hong Kong's housing chief yesterday confirmed a marked policy shift was under way, with the focus away from a rental market and towards home ownership.

For the first time in more than a decade, the administration has made clear its plans to push initiatives aimed at helping residents achieve the dream of owning a home in the world's most expensive housing market.

"The direction and angle of policies have shifted. There is one more dimension offered," Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan said on a radio programme. The new direction was announced during Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's policy address on Wednesday.

The measures include the "Starter Homes" scheme that aims to allow middle-class families who earn too much for subsidised housing but cannot afford private homes, as well as turning more developments earmarked for public rental housing into subsidised flats for sale.

Those developments would be converted through the Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme, which would be made into a regular programme. The plan was last year launched as a pilot programme, aiming to vacate more public rental units and speed up the waiting period for rental applicants. A public-housing project in San Po Kong was selected and offered 857 units for sale to existing tenants or those eligible for public rental housing.

〈Macau Post, October 4, 2017〉Kelvin Chan, Hong Kong Property tycoon Xu Jiayin has vaulted to the top of a Chinese rich list after his wealth quadrupled, knocking Wang Jianlin off his longtime position at No. 1.

The Hurun Report, China’s best-known list of its wealthiest people, estimated that wealth held by Xu, founder of developer Evergrande, surged to USD43 billion, moving him up nine places from last year.

Another property mogul, Yang Huiyan of developer Country Garden, rose 18 spots to fourth place as her fortune more than tripled to $24 billion.

Wang, head of real estate and leisure conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group, fell from first to fifth place as his wealth shrank 28 percent to $23 billion, the report said. He had held the top spot since 2013.

The changes reflect how savvy real estate investors have benefited from soaring Chinese property prices that have driven apartment sales and boosted their companies’ share prices even as Beijing has sought to cool the market, Hurun CEO Rupert Hoogewerf said.

“They’ve put a lot of their eggs in that basket and they’re reaping their rewards,” Hoogewerf said. Evergrande, based in the southern city of Guangzhou, is one of China’s biggest property developers. Xu, 59, is known as an avid supporter of Chinese soccer and has invested in the sport domestically.

Familiar faces from China’s tech industry rounded out the top five, with Pony Ma of Internet company Tencent moving up one place to second with $37 billion in wealth as his company’s shares rallied 60 percent this year. He overtook Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, who slipped to third with $30 billion after his stake in finance company Ant Financial was reduced.

〈China Daily, October 13, 2017〉Hong Kong investors have shrugged off repeated warnings from the government and economists about impending rate hikes as nothing more than “cry wolf”. They believe that the never-ending inflow of overseas capital into Hong Kong will continue to flush the banking system with liquidity, negating any need to bring local rates in line with those in the United States.

They could be wrong. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority — the city’s de facto central bank — which had done little in the past, is becoming active in trying to absorb “excessive” liquidity in the banking system by selling debt instruments on a regular basis to financial institutions.

Its latest move is seen as having been triggered by concerns stemming from the widening interest rate differential between Hong Kong and the US. Despite the huge gap, the demand for Hong Kong dollars resulting from capital inflow has made it unnecessary to raise rates to defend the linked exchange rate mechanism.

The situation is becoming increasingly untenable with the US Federal Reserve having set in motion the unwinding of its balance sheet, leading to high expectations of another rate hike by at least 25 basis points in December. Growing expectations of currency appreciation, coupled with higher interest returns in the US, could be too much of a lure to overseas investors.

For that reason, further delaying interest-rate increases in Hong Kong could lead to sudden and large rate hikes later as a result of a massive outflow of overseas capital to the US. The magnitude of the credit tightening could wreak havoc on the assets market, leading to a possible collapse in property prices that have been pushed to the current high levels by the plentiful supply of liquidity at record low costs.

〈The Standard, October 13, 2017〉The grace period for homebuyers to be exempted from paying the 15 percent stamp duty on the purchase of new flats could be extended to nine months, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor indicated yesterday.

Currently, permanent residents who do not own multiple properties can get a partial refund and pay a lower stamp duty rate if they can sell their old property within six months of the new purchase.

The Democratic Party's James To Kun-sun and the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong's Holden Chow Ho-ding sought an extension of the exemption period to up to 12 months during Lam's question-and-answer session on her policy address at the Legislative Council. "I reckon there's room for an extension from six to nine months for genuine house swappers," Lam said.

But she said the government would not tighten or relax property cooling measures.
"I guess the tightening measures are already tight enough," Lam said. "However, once policies are already in place, any withdrawal could cause unpredictable market volatility."

Lam also acknowledged that despite new initiatives such as the Starter Homes scheme, the supply of flats is unlikely to meet demand in the short run.

Meanwhile, Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan assured the Starter Homes will not be inferior compared to private flats offered at market rates.

In Lam's policy address, the government proposed to incorporate provisions in land leases, requiring developers to pursue mixed developments. This means they are to design, build and offer for sale a specified number of Starter Homes in addition to private housing units.

〈The Global Post, October 12, 2017〉Despite Brexit, Chinese investors are still flocking to invest in the capital’scommercial property market By Sun Wei in London London Trophy assets have been constantly catching the eyes of Chinese investors throughout this year, in spite of the negative press surrounding Britain’s looming departure from the European Union.

Fan Huiyong, chief editor of London-based magazine UK Property Weekly, told the Global Times, “Rich rental income and long-term stability of capital appreciation are the main attractive features of London’s commercial real estate,” adding that the depreciations in the British pound were driving the demand as well.

Among all the investment in London’scommercial real estate this year, capital from China has accounted for a third, up from less than 10 percent before the referendum, according to Los Angeles-based CBRE Group, Inc., the world’s largest commercial property services firm.

Global real estate advisor Colliers International revealed in a new report published on October 4 that the top three cities for real estate investment in Europe remain unchanged year-onyear, with London benefitting from three times the investment volumes of either Paris or Berlin, which rank as second and third, respectively.

Chinese investors welcomed Several of the most visible and iconic buildings in London’s financial center, known as the City, now belong to Chinese companies.

Hong Kong real estate developer C C Land Holdings paid 1.15 billion pounds ($1.5 billion) for the famous ‘‘Cheesegrater’’tower in May.

Two months later in July, Hong Kong-based LKK Health Products Group Ltd. agreed to buy the skyscraper known as the ‘‘Walkie-Talkie’’ for 1.28 billion pounds, a record breaking price for a single building transaction.

Meanwhile, China’s Cindat Capital Management is joining an acquisition of QHotels Group, causing the value of the UK hospitality company to exceed 500 million pounds.