* Canada Pension Plan Investment Board set aside roughly US$696 million for Singapore-based logistics provider GLP Pte. Ltd.'s GLP Japan Development Partners III, which is reportedly the largest Japan-focused industrial real estate fund yet.
* LendLease Group won a A$476 million contract to develop a proposed metro station and a A$1 billion commercial tower development in North Sydney, outpacing fellow Australian property companies Dexus and Charter Hall Group's joint venture with Chinese-backed builder for the planned Victoria Cross Station.
* Chinese companies have made US$12.3 billion worth of real estate asset sales since January, compared to US$5.3 billion the year prior, Bloomberg News reported, citing Real Capital Analytics data.
Australia
* U.K.-based M&G Investments' real estate fund management arm M&G Real Estate purchased Future Fund's 50% stake in Dexus' funds management platform. The Dexus Industrial Partnership is seeded with the 25.6-hectare Quarry West in Greystanes industrial estate in Sydney's west.
* Central Equity Ltd. Chairman and developer Eddie Kutner said that banks' cautious approach towards lending is hurting Melbourne's apartment market, as he quashed the concerns regarding an oversupply in the market, The Australian reported. Kutner added that there is "a huge pool of buyers" in the market, but tracing them and doing a transaction is taking longer because the banks are taking longer to assess the client's suitability.
Hong Kong and China
* Sino Land Co. Ltd. sold 336 of the 338 units on offer at its Grand Central residential project in Hong Kong's Kwun Tong district on Dec. 23, bringing total sales to 1,205 flats, the South China Morning Post reported. The publication said the developer's low pricing strategy at the 1,999-unit project has resulted in sales of HK$14.7 billion, the most for new flat sales in Hong Kong in 2018, with a further 108 units expected to be released at prices marked up by 1% to 3%, the publication noted, citing sources.
* The Hong Kong government increased its target ratio of to-be-built public flats versus private ones to 70:30 from 60:40, but admitted it did not have enough land to meet growing public demand for subsidized housing, The (Hong Kong) Standard reported.
* Hong Kong's Lands Department is looking to dispose of a 9,480-square-meter commercial/hotel site in Kowloon and a 32,900-square-meter residential site in Tai Po Town through public tender.
* Still in Hong Kong, HKR International Ltd. will release 196 units, of between 344 and 1,844 saleable square feet, at Poggibonsi in Discovery Bay, with the project expected to hit the block by early 2019, according to a report by The Standard. In addition, Great Eagle Holdings Ltd. will launch its ONTOLO project in Pak Shek Kok in 2019's first half.
* A Sino-Ocean Group Holding Ltd. unit agreed to sell, for the U.S. dollar-equivalent of roughly 5.38 billion yuan, its full interest in Cityshine Holdings Ltd., which mainly owns an indirect 94.03% equity interest in a company that holds the Ocean Office Park building in Beijing.
India
* Credit rating agency ICRA maintained its negative and stable outlooks, respectively, for Indian residential and commercial real estate segments, The Economic Times of India reported. ICRA said the commercial real estate segment enjoys steady demand and strong interest from investors, while the residential segment is facing slow demand recovery and financing hurdles, the report noted.
Elsewhere in Southeast Asia
* WCT Holdings Bhd. and TSR Capital Bhd secured a 676.8 million ringgit contract from PNB Merdeka Ventures Sdn. Bhd. to build an eight-story shopping complex in Kuala Lumpur. The contract, which is slated to begin Jan. 2, 2019, is expected to be completed within 30 months.
* The Cagayan Economic Zone Authority signed a memorandum of understanding with Singapore developer LongRunn Capital Pte. Ltd. and Italian firm Mercurio Design Lab for the development of a US$4.5 billion mixed-use project in Santa Ana, the Philippines, The Philippine Star reported, citing a Cagayan Economic statement.
* The Philippine Stock Exchange President and CEO Ramon Monzon said the issues revolving around the real estate investment trust laws have been resolved, with fresh guidelines to be implemented in 2019 that will look to ensure funds raised through REITs remain within the country, The Philippine Star reported.
Other real estate news
* Indian hotel startup Oyo Rooms, estimated to be worth US$5 billion, is looking to expand its footprint in other European territories after debuting in the British market in September, Channel NewsAsia reported. The app-based company already has a presence in Nepal, Malaysia, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates, along with 164,000 hotel rooms in India and 180,000 rooms in China, the report noted.
The Daily Dose Asia-Pacific, Real Estate edition is updated by 6:30 a.m. Hong Kong time. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.
Abdul Rehman Maqbool contributed to this report.