* Westfield Corp. halted trading of its shares from the Australian stock exchange, pending the announcement of news related to its discussions for "a potentially significant corporate transaction."
The Dec. 12 request for trading halt is expected to be lifted Dec. 14.
* The delisting of Global Logistic Properties Ltd. will be heard by the High Court of Singapore Dec. 15, the company said in a filing. The court's approval is required before the S$16 billion privatization deal with Nesta Investment Holdings Ltd. becomes binding.
Hong Kong and China
* Country Garden Holdings Co. Ltd. canceled its plan to spin off and list on the Shanghai stock exchange its Guangdong Country Garden Property Services Co. Ltd. subsidiary. The company is citing a recent policy change at certain Chinese approval authorities as reason for nixing the plan, noting that it is mulling, as one option, a possible separate listing on another bourse.
* Yunnan Metropolitan Real Estate Development Co. Ltd. has earmarked about 3.0 billion yuan for a property development project in Kunming, China, Reuters reported.
* Hopson Development Holdings Ltd. collected nearly 8.08 billion yuan after it contracted about 623,973 square meters of property in the first 11 months of 2017. The unaudited 11-month contracted sales figure represents a 4.4% increase from the approximately 7.74 billion yuan that the company recorded for the same period in 2016.
* A China-based subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Longfor Properties Co. Ltd. is looking to pioneer the issuance of rental housing bonds in China. Longfor Chongqing Enterprise Development applied with the Shanghai bourse to issue the bonds to raise up to 5 billion yuan, proceeds from which will be exclusively used for rental projects, the South China Morning Post reported.
The publication added, citing unnamed bankers, that more developers, such as China Jinmao Holdings Group Ltd., are also looking to raise funds by offering rental bonds.
* Beijing Properties (Holdings) Ltd. established a US$90.0 million and a US$200.0 million term loan facilities under agreements with an unidentified bank.
* KWG Property Holding Ltd. redeemed Dec. 10 all of its outstanding 8.25% senior notes due 2019 for nearly US$321.0 million.
* Yuzhou Properties Co. Ltd. fully redeemed, as planned, US$250 million of its 9.00% senior notes due 2019 at a redemption price of US$272.5 million.
* The wealth effect from Hong Kong's stock market, record-low unemployment and high economic growth are expected to drive home prices higher in the world's most expensive urban center in 2018, SCMP reported, citing analysts.
* From January to Dec. 8, Beijing completed the release of 601 hectares of land for residential property development, 200 hectares more than the average land supply of the past five years, China News reports. According to the Beijing Urban Planning and Land Resources Management Committee, another 50 hectares will be made available before the end of the year, adding that municipal governments will continue to push the development of rental housing sector.
* The average interest rate for first-time home buyers in China rose 20% year on year to 5.36% for the first 11 months, The Paper reported, quoting data from financial data company Rong360.
Australia
* Blackstone Group LP is divesting a 22,196-square-meter shopping center in Sydney to local fund manager Fortius for more than A$140 million. According to The Australian, the private-equity giant could see its investment on the large format Home HQ Artarmon retail center almost doubled, as it bought the site in 2013 from a Charter Hall Group-managed fund for A$72.5 million.
* Cromwell Property Group is planning to issue roughly 175 million new units under a A$170 million strategic placement to SingHaiyi Group Ltd. and Haiyi Holdings Pte. Ltd., which are companies affiliated to certain investors of its Singapore-listed Cromwell European REIT.
* Local developer Develotek could reap as much as A$250 million from the collective sale of eight houses and 12 townhouses in Sydney's Chatswood district. The Australian Financial Review reported that the 5,420-square-meter site could accommodate a 400-apartment, 90-meter tower with a gross floor area of about 30,000 square meters.
Japan
* Hankyu REIT Inc. is seeking to register a ¥100.00 billion shelf of investment corporation bonds for planned offerings from Dec. 19 to Dec. 18, 2019.
* Japanese real estate has attracted JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s alternative asset management arm, which is looking to expand in the country, Bloomberg Markets reported.
Anton Pil, managing partner of JPMorgan Global Alternatives, was quoted by the news agency as saying that offshore investors are interested in local properties "because the Bank of Japan is on a different schedule" compared with other central banks.
* Department store landlords are working to improve their real estate businesses in a bid to ensure stable income amid the growing popularity of specialty shops and online retailers, the Nikkei Asian Review reported.
* Four of Japan's seven major homebuilders posted year-over-year declines in order intake in November, Tokyo's The Nikkei reported. Misawa Homes Co. Ltd. posted an 8% drop, making it the worst performer in that month.
Other real estate news
* Chinese developer Jubao Xie is reportedly selling the 492-room Holiday Inn hotel at 99 Washington St. in New York City for over US$300 million. The 50-story property is the world's tallest Holiday Inn hotel.
Cam Nones, Emily Lai and Jaekwon Lim contributed to this report.
As of Dec. 11, US$1 was equivalent to 6.62 yuan, ¥113.37 and S$1.35.
