〈Asian Post, May 19, 2018〉Multinationals and state-owned firms are relocating from established central business districts in Shanghai to up-and-coming areas, attracted by lower rents and an increasing supply of grade A office space.

Amid the expansion of the city's railway system, other non-CBD areas have seen a surge in the construction of office buildings, offering companies an alternative to established districts such as Lujiazui, Nanjing Road and People's Square.

Shanghai Railway Station, the North Bund and Qiantan are among the emerging non-CBD areas that are starting to draw big tenants.

Besides, the mainland's most developed metropolis is set to overtake Hong Kong as the mainland's biggest office market in 2020.

By that year, the city's top-grade office market will have a total supply of 11 million sq metres, up from 6.6 million last year, according to property service firm JLL. Hong Kong had about 8 million sq metres last year, which will rise to about 9.2 million in two years.

Companies willing to relocate to these decentralised areas could see their rents fall up to 40 per cent.

Dubbed as a "second Lujiazui", Qiantan, along the eastern banks of Pudong, is about 12km south of the city's finance and trade heart of Lujiazui.

The Shanghai municipality envisions creating a new bustling commercial district at Qiantan, which will be in line with the standards set by Lujiazui.

State-owned developer Shanghai Lujiazui Group plans to build 4 million sq metres of new developments at Qiantan, of which 40 per cent will be allocated to high-end residential projects.

〈China Daily, May 19, 2018〉Mainland builder China Aoyuan is confident it’s in pole position as the Bay Area push gathers steam. Vice-president Jacky Chan tells Edith Lu the group has what it takes to be the cat’s whiskers in the race for the pie.

With the high-profile Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area project swinging into top gear, Guangzhou-based China Aoyuan Property Group — one of the Chinese mainland’s biggest builders — may be holding all the aces in the thrust into the Pearl River Delta it sees as its home turf.

Aoyuan, with a track record of more than two decades in the property-and-hotel business since its founding in 1996, stands to benefit from its favorable position, having started to make the layout planning of cities in Guangdong province long before the Bay Area national strategy came into being, says Jacky Chan Ka-yeung, the group’s vice-president.

Chan, who joined the group five years ago and is also president of Aoyuan’s international investment unit, reveals that the company now owns and runs 50 projects spread across the PRD, including the nine mainland cities and the Hong Kong, Macao special administrative regions covered in the Bay Area development plan.

Aoyuan, listed in Hong Kong in 2007, completed its full investment coverage of the region in March this year when it snapped up five residential units in the SAR — at Yin Yee Mansion in Mid-Levels West for HK$131 million — following a failed attempt to secure a residential site at Whitehead in Ma On Shan, Sha Tin, last year.

In Macao, the developer’s much-hyped high-end residential project — Macao S. Francisco Heights — will be up for sale in the latter half of this year.

“The Bay Area is a top priority area that we’ve to make it good because it’s our home,” Chan tells China Daily.

〈Asian Post, May 18, 2018〉Burglar prises open window at late Cheng Yu-tung's Repulse Bay property, enters the main bedroom and escapes with jewellery and HK$30,000 cash

A luxury home owned by the family of late property tycoon Cheng Yu-tung was found burgled for the second time in two years yesterday, with jewellery and HK$30,000 missing.

A housekeeper reported the case at 5.46am, saying there had been a break-in at 12 Repulse Bay Road. An initial investigation showed that about 10 pieces of gold jewellery, some red packets and cash were taken after the burglar entered an unoccupied main bedroom and a storeroom.

A review of CCTV footage had yet to reveal any suspicious persons and police had made no arrests by last night.

Known as Estrellita, the property is located on the side of Violet Hill. It has an outdoor tennis court and pool on the hillside.

A police source said the housekeeper reported the case after she found a window on the first floor had been prised open.

"A wardrobe in the room was also levered [open]. No one was injured," the source said. "It is unclear when the burglary took place as the housekeeper last found the rooms in good shape on Tuesday. So the crime happened sometime between Tuesday and [yesterday] morning."

The Post understands that Cheng's widow, Chow Tsui-ying, was at home when police arrived.

The house was also burgled on August 8, 2016. During that break-in, at least four 15cm gold statues were stolen from an unoccupied guest room.Billionaire tycoon the latest target in spate of high-profile Hong Kong break-insCheng Yu-tung, who founded real estate investment firm New World Development and jewellery chain Chow Tai Fook, was in 2016 ranked the third-richest person in Hong Kong and 58th in the world by Forbes, with a net worth of US$16.5 billion. He died in September 2016.

〈China Daily, May 17, 2018〉Buyers eyeing better deals in smaller cities Home prices increased slightly in April compared with the previous month, according to a monthly report published on Wednesday by China’sNational Bureau of Statistics. The report tracks housing prices in 70 major cities in China.

The largest growth rate, a 2 percent month-on-month rise in new house prices, was seen in Dandong, a city on the border with North Korea in Northeast China’s Liaoning Province.

House prices there have been increasing rapidly in recent weeks, largely due to expectations of increased trade with North Korea following the April 27 Inter-Korean summit.

Hainan also saw a notable rise in prices, with a 1.9 percent monthly increase seen in two cities included in the report – Haikou, the provincial capital in the northern part of the island, and Sanya, a leading resort town in the south. The prices rose even though Hainan implemented strict restrictions on home purchases last month.

The average monthly price rise across the nation was 0.59 percent, up from 0.42 percent in March, according to analysis sent to the Global Times by Hong Kong-based Centaline property. Zhang Dawei, an analyst at Centaline, noted that April is the start of the peak season for the real estate market in China, which accounts for the slight increase.

Price rises were concentrated mostly in smaller cities, while firsttier cities saw little change or even price drops. Analysts see this as a shift in response to central government measures to cool down overheated housing markets in China’sbiggest cities, pushing buyers to eye cities with less restrictive policies.

〈China Daily, May 16, 2018〉Remaining town houses in luxury development of six homes at 3 Plunkett's Road set for en bloc sale after being held empty for past seven years

A luxury low-rise development comprising five town houses at 3 Plunkett's Road on The Peak, which have been held empty by the builder Tai Cheung Properties for seven years, is being offered for collective sale at HK$2.34 billion.

The five properties feature extravagant interior decorations, each fitted with custom-built furniture, original oil paintings and handcrafted chandeliers.

"Mainland companies and institutional funds are searching for these rare properties for self use or investment. These properties are just like art collections for the mega rich," said Louis Ho, principal sales director for the Peak and south Mid-Levels West at StatelyHome, a luxury home sales unit under Centaline Property Agency which is the sole agent of the development.

The 3 Plunkett's Road development comprises six detached town houses. But five properties have been kept off market after the developer sold House A, the largest of the six in August 2011. The house fetched HK$399.8 million or HK$81,708 per square foot, inclusive of two car parks, a 920 sq ft garden and a 805 sq ft roof top.

"It is the first time in the past 10 years that five luxury town houses in a new development have been offered for sale in one go," he said.

Ho rejected the suggestion that the sale was triggered by the growing political support for a vacancy tax to curb hoarding. The years-long delay was needed to complete the detailed interior design and decoration plan, he said. The interior design costs, inclusive of design fees and furniture, amounted to HK$159.84 million, according to the developer.