〈The Standard, June 9, 2018〉The Hong Kong government is at it again, throwing one big smoke-screen on the cause of high housing prices - land shortage!

There is no land shortage, only a shortage of willingness among decision makers to start building and converting land use for this purpose.

First, the developers have large land banks and must be forced to start developing, or risk losing the land without compensation.

Second, utilise brownfield areas. Nobody needs those (illegal) dump sites in the New Territories.

Third, village houses. If we do not want to take away the "small house" right, then strictly enforce the rules with slight adjustments. Any male villager who turns 18, and can prove that he has lived in Hong Kong his whole life, is entitled to a 700 sq ft plot.

The house built on this plot is intended for him and his family to live in, it is not allowed to be sold or rented out. If he moves or dies, the plot is to be returned to the village so it can be reallocated.Watch: Explaining Hong Kong's housing crisisFourth, only housing of 2,101 sq ft or more can be sold to non-permanent Hong Kong residents. Residential flats cannot be in the name of a company, and all those that are must be converted into personal names.

This can be done free of stamp duty, as long as it is in the name of one of the shareholders registered since day one.

Fifth, shut down Disneyland. It only costs us money. That said, look at the recently announced housing-system reform in Shenzhen, with a 40/40/20 ratio for commercial residential, government subsidised, and public rental housing, with strict rules on resale and income checks. Now that takes a lot of determination, vision and guts.

The question is whether the Hong Kong government has the courage to face all of the interest groups, including developers, the Heung Yee Kuk and, last but not least, themselves - as many legislators have vested interests in property.

〈The Standard, June 9, 2018〉New residential projects were oversubscribed this week, despite the rising one-month Hong Kong interbank rate, which is linked to mortgage borrowing costs.

The one-month rate rose for the eighth day to 1.3 percent, according to the Hong Kong Association of Banks.

Interest rates on HIBOR-based mortgage loans are usually one-month HIBOR plus 1.3 to 1.4 percentage points, but capped at 2.25 percent by most of the banks.

K. Wah International (0173) received 3,700 applications as of yesterday for the second batch of flats for pre-sale at its Solaria project at Tai Po's Pak Shek Kok district.

The latest batch, which goes on offer this Saturday, comprises 268 apartments, and was oversubscribed 12 times.

Also, Henderson Land (0012) received 2,100 applications for 180 apartments at its Cetus.Square Mile project in Tai Kok Tsui, representing an oversubscription by 11 times.

The latest batch is also on offer this Saturday. Meanwhile, a joint venture by Emperor International (0163) and the Urban Renewal Authority reported a case of a buyer forfeiting deposits worth HK$700,000 one a one-bedroom 287-square-foot apartment in The Amused in Cheung Sha Wan priced at HK$5.8 million.

The buyer had paid more than 10 percent of the price in deposits since September last year, according to the register of transactions.

In the secondary market, a 2,000-sq-ft three-bedroom flat in Repulse Bay's Belleview Garden changed hands for HK$64 million, or HK$31,235 per sq ft, according to Ricacorp Properties. The seller had purchased the luxury property for HK$38 million in 2008, making a gross profit of HK$26 million in 10 years.

In Taikoo Shing, a 1,114-sq-ft flat in Marigold Court changed hands for HK$25 million, or HK$22,442 per sq ft, which was between 8 and 14 per cent lower than online valuations by major banks.

〈Business Times, June 8, 2018〉Residential property markets in the Asia-Pacific remain resilient, a housing report published by S&P Global Ratings said yesterday.

Favourable economic conditions, tight labour markets and accommodative monetary policy have supported the trend.

"At the same time, cooling measures have... had some success in controlling house price inflation in China and Singapore," S&P said.

The report also highlighted that public housing here is still undergoing "mild price declines", while the private residential market improved in the first quarter this year following a long period of price falls.

S&P Asia-Pacific economist Vishrut Rana noted: "Out of the markets we cover, prices in the latest quarter fell only in three places: mainland China's tier-one markets, and public housing in Singapore and Sydney."

Australian residential property markets appear to have slowed, particularly in Sydney, where additional housing supply is in the pipeline, the report said.

S&P said: "Several indicators, including residential transactions and housing starts, are showing cyclical downturn. Macroprudential policies have been effective in slowing down new mortgage borrowing, particularly by investors."

In China, stringent cooling measures in tier-one cities led to property prices decreasing slightly for the first three months this year, while somewhat milder measures have been maintained in tier-two cities.

Although mortgage credit growth has slowed partly due to these measures, China's home loan market is still expanding at the fastest rate in the region, the report noted.

Conversely, tough cooling measures in Hong Kong have not been very effective in dampening prices due to strong demand.

"Hong Kong's residential property market stands out in the region for being unstoppable," said Mr Rana.

〈China Daily, June7, 2018〉London's Walkie Talkie building was sold to a unit of Hong Kong-based food giant Lee Kum Kee Group for 1.28 billion pounds ($1.68 billion) in 2017. Chinese investment in commercial property in the United Kingdom has fallen by more than 70 percent this year, according to new data, with analysts attributing the drop to the control of capital outflows from China and uncertainty over Britain's pending exit from the European Union.

Investors from the Chinese mainland spent $325 million on commercial property in the UK in the first quarter of this year, according to property consultants Cushman and Wakefield.

This is 70.5 percent lower than the quarterly average over the past five years of $1.1 billion.

Spending was markedly down on 2017, when Chinese investors spent $5.10 billion on UK commercial property in the first half of the year. This included the sale of two landmark skyscrapers in London - known as the Cheesegrater and the Walkie Talkie - to Chinese buyers.

'First quarter investment in the UK this year was down as the controls kick in and trophy offices lose favor, but development opportunities are still attractive,' said Richard Coleman, head of communications for Europe, the Middle East and Asia at Cushman and Wakefield.

The authors of the report said that recent regulations in China have sought to place additional scrutiny on deals involving 'trophy assets'.

The report said several other factors have also impacted upon investment levels. These include strong competition from South Korean investors, the steady recovery of the pound against the renminbi, and the UK's scheduled withdrawal from the EU on March 29, 2019.

UK real estate expert and buying agent Henry Pryor said the latter has made Chinese buyers more cautious.

'There are capital controls, and there is Brexit,' Pryor said. 'The property market does not like uncertainty, and if you are a Chinese investor, are you going to want to commit before March 29, 2019, or will you probably say, do you know what, I don't know what's going to happen but I can put it off until June next year.'

〈China Daily, June 6, 2018〉Night view of Shenzhen Bay, Guangdong province, April 13, 2018. [Photo/VCG] The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area expects to be the largest economy among global bay areas by 2020, as Hong Kong is expected to be more attractive to firms and capital from the Chinese mainland will be promoted, according to a report from real estate consulting firm CBRE.

CBRE said the Greater Bay Area has three growth poles, including Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, with advantages in scientific innovation, trade, logistics, finance and services, and it also covers cities with strong manufacturing power in the Pearl River Delta.

Last year, the economic aggregate of the Greater bay Area reached 11.7 trillion yuan ($1.83 trillion).

The Greater Bay Area is accelerating its integration. As the development plan is implemented, population inflow will increase, technology and industry will be upgraded and large-scale infrastructure investment will create new investment opportunities in real estate in the area.

There is still a gap between the Greater Bay Area and other international bay areas in real estate development, said Li Ling, a managing director of investment and capital market sector at CBRE China.

Last year, the space of high-quality office buildings at the Greater Bay Area was 32 million square meters, 40 and 55 percent lower than the New York Bay Area and the Tokyo Bay Area respectively.

As the economy growth and structure transformation continues in the Greater Bay Area, demand for office buildings will surge, Li said.

High-end business will continue to gather in core cities that will boost office building investment in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, CBRE's report said.

At present, Guangzhou and Shenzhen have entered into a second round of construction for office areas. Pazhou, International Finance Town and the Qianhai area of Shenzhen is attracting tenants and investors.