〈The Standard, October 28, 2017〉Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016) is to launch its Victoria Harbour project on a former public housing estate site in North Point.

Deputy managing director Victor Lui-ting said some units to be sold could be the most expensive apartments in Hong Kong.

The new project is located near North Point Ferry Pier and bus terminus, approaching Victoria Harbour. The site was formerly the North Point Estate, the Eastern District's largest public housing estate that comprised seven 11-story blocks with a total of 1,956 flats.

The government decided to demolish the estate in 2000 due to increasing maintenance problems and costs, and put the site up for public tender in 2012. SKHP won the site for HK$6.91 billion, or about HK$18,000 per square foot in terms of gross floor area.

SHKP said the new project will provide 355 units in five towers, ranging from 300 saleable-square-foot studios, to 1,600 ssq four bedroom apartments.

Meanwhile, MTR Corporation Ltd (0066) will put a site in Wong Chuk Hang out for tender. It's estimated to be worth about HK$9.73 billion, or HK$19,000 per sq ft in terms of gross floor area.

The site is covering about 92,570 sq ft, with a maximum gross floor area of 492,991 sq ft. In Cheung Sha Wan, Far East Consortium (0035) and the Urban Renewal Authority will launch the pre-sale of Astoria Crest next month, with the project offering 87 units, ranging from 250 ssf one-bedroom flats, to 400 ssf two- bedroom homes.

In China, new home prices registered a second straight month of weak growth in September, with prices in the biggest markets slipping, and gains in smaller cities slowing as government measures to cool a long property boom took hold.

The mainland's housing market has been on a near two-year tear, giving the economy a major boost, but stirring fears of a property bubble - even as authorities work to contain risks from a rapid build-up in debt.

〈Asian Post, October 28, 2017〉The 50 richest women in the country own assets worth 23.1 billion yuan (HK$27.1 billion) on average, or a combined 1.2 trillion yuan, up almost 50 per cent from last year.

The benchmark to rank among China's 50 wealthiest women has amounted to 10 billion yuan this year, up nine times from a decade ago.

However, despite the rapid growth, the average wealth of the 50 richest females is only a third of the 72.6 billion yuan average of their male counterparts.

The benchmark to join the wealthiest men's club in the country was 34 billion yuan, the report said. Yang Huiyan, the 36-year-old vice-chairwoman of property developer Country Garden Holdings with a 56 per cent stake, remains the wealthiest woman in the country.

She saw her wealth balloon 230 per cent year on year to 160 billion yuan. Among the 50 richest women in China, 34 are self-made, according to Hurun.

Yang did not qualify as a self-made billionaire because her stake in Country Garden was transferred by her father, Yeung Kwok-keung, the company's founder and chairman.

The world's top five self-made women are Zhou, who established Lens, with 70 billion yuan; Longfor Properties chairwoman Wu Yajun, with 52.5 billion yuan; Chen Lihua, founder of commercial real estate firm Fu Wah International Group, with 50.5 billion yuan; Cheung Yan, who chairs Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings), with 45 billion yuan; and Peng Lei, who heads Ant Financial, the affiliated financial services arm of Alibaba Group Holding, with 40 billion yuan.

Zhou's wealth has increased 56 per cent in the past year while Wu's rose 59 per cent, according to the Hurun list. Cheung saw a 45 per cent boost and Peng's leapt 321 per cent, while Chen's wealth was unchanged from last year.

〈The Standard, October 27, 2017〉Businessman Bill Wong Cho-bau rented out his Shenzhen penthouse to former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam- kuen for "publicity" reasons, the High Court heard yesterday.

Summing up Tsang's defense at his corruption trial, lawyer Selwyn Yu Sing- cheung, SC, slammed government prosecutor David Perry, QC, for producing "weak arguments" that showed just a "part of the whole picture." Yu added: "The prosecutor is a very good salesman. He made up a complex and perfect story based on coincidence.

"But do not speculate. As the jury, you are here to judge according to evidence - not to hear a Jin Yong novel." Tsang is accused of benefiting from redecoration and refurbishment work on a penthouse in Shenzhen East Pacific Garden costing HK$3.5 million from Wave Media boss Wong, who at the time was applying for a digital radio license for his firm.

But Yu said the three-story property - originally a dilapidated clubhouse - would have been uninhabitable without any renovations. In addition, having a former Hong Kong leader as a tenant would be a great "marketing opportunity" for Wong, Yu said.

"It gives Wong's company a good name. Just like how former Hong Kong governor's [Chris Patten's] love for egg tarts provided great publicity."

In delivering the prosecution's final submission on Wednesday, Perry alleged the "secrecy, concealment and disguise" shown by Tsang are the badges and signs of corruption,

He described Tsang as a two-faced man - one a church-goer of high integrity, and the other someone who "made secret deals with rich businessmen."

Perry also suggested HK$350,000 of the 800,000 yuan (HK$940,896) rent was funded by another Wave Media shareholder, David Li Kwok-po.

〈The Standard, October 27, 2017〉Market talk that any overseas property purchases exceeding US$100,000 (HK$780,000) by mainland Chinese need to be reported to central authorities may have prompted a race to buy in London, said Darren McCormack of Taylor Wimpey Central London.

The rumor has not been confirmed, but it spread like wild fire in London's property market, fueling very strong sales this year from Hong Kong, where many deals were presumably made by Hongkongers and mainlanders, the sales and marketing director said.

McCormack said he and his team frequently visit Hong Kong and the mainland, and that TWCL even pays for prospective home buyers to visit London to see new projects or show flats to facilitate sales.

But with tighter Chinese capital controls, a few buyers have forfeited down payments and failed to complete sales deals though TWCL denies business has been adversely affected. Hong Kong and mainland developers have begun tapping London's property market.

However, development sites in London are not necessarily awarded to whoever offers the highest bid as authorities take into account factors such as track records, background and financial strength. A case in point was a mainland developer that tried to collaborate with TWCL in making a 200-million (HK$2.06 billion) bid for a site.

〈The Standard, October 25, 2017〉Hong Kong's grade A office market has seen several expensive sales transactions in the past few months. This robust market momentum has also stimulated the leasing market, with rents for some of the benchmark premium spaces reaching record highs as year-on-year growth saw gains ranging from 2 percent to 21 percent.

Driven by strong demand from the financial industry, Grade A commercial buildings located in core business areas such as Central and Admiralty continue to dwell under the spotlight.

Redevelopment plans for three government buildings in Wan Chai, together with an expansion proposal for the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, will change Wan Chai North into a prime office destination, according to Colliers International. "The total new Grade A office stock in the district has the potential to amount to 4.9 million square feet in the coming years.

"Office prices in Wan Chai have increased rapidly by 20 percent year to date," Colliers said. United Centre in Admiralty saw seven leasing deals this year. The latest case involved a financial firm taking up 2,217 square feet of office space at HK$45 per sq ft monthly. The owner had acquired the 5,095 sq ft unit in June 2015, paying HK$82 million, or HK$16,100 per sq ft.

"Tenants from the finance sector are loyal to Grade A offices in Central and Admiralty," said Midland Commercial's sales director Terry Wong. "And as we can see, some consulates have established their offices at United Centre and Admiralty Centre for decades, and they seem to have no intention of relocating to non-core districts such as Kowloon East."

Real estate consultancy Cushman and Wakefield revealed in a report that office rents in Central broke the record again at HK$126.60 per sq ft per month in the third quarter, driven by the booming co-working trend.