No. of view: 2875
Property News Weekly Digest
2020/2/15
〈Asian Post, February 15, 2020〉Our city's once-fabled reputation as a shopping hub is in jeopardy as months of anti-government protests and the virus outbreak keep mainland visitors away

Zhang Zisheng has stopped shopping in Hong Kong. The 24-year-old salesman no longer feels welcomed, even if his home in Jiangmen is a mere 90 minutes' ride away on the high-speed rail, and he speaks the same Cantonese as Hong Kong's residents.

"I'm worried that I, as a mainland visitor, may be physically attacked" in Hong Kong amid the anti-government protests, which had taken on a nativist slant in recent months against visitors coming across the border, Zhang said.

"Hong Kong's protests have affected my [decision] to visit" the city, he said, adding he was going to the former Portuguese colony of Macau instead because "there is no sign of riots, so I could rest assured while shopping".

〈Asian Post, February 14, 2020〉HSBC and Citi to offer interest-only mortgage payments among other measures, while DBS and ICBC look to ease burden on small companies

More banks have stepped up to extend relief measures to residents and businesses as Hong Kong's economy struggles under the coronavirus outbreak.

HSBC and Citigroup said yesterday they would allow individual mortgage holders to make interest-only payments for up to a year, among other measures, while DBS said it would offer similar help to holders of business loans and mortgages. ICBC Asia meanwhile announced further measures for small businesses.

The measures come as the coronavirus outbreak adds to the woes of a city that has already fallen into its first technical recession in more than a decade as a result of a year-long US-China trade war and anti-government protests since June 2019.

〈China Daily, February 15, 2020〉Henderson Land Development is reducing rents for its tenants by as much as 60 per cent, joining its peers easing the strain on local businesses hit by the coronavirus outbreak.

The developer, which owns retail space in more than 20 shopping centres across the city, including the IFC Mall in Central, will lower base rents for retailers, caterers and education institutions in its locations by 20 per cent to 60 per cent this month, it said in a statement yesterday.

"The group is particularly concerned about our tenants, medium and small business owners in particular, and hope the relief measures would help them power through the tough period," it said.

The landlord would also allow education institutions, including tuition centres and kindergartens affected by class suspensions, to defer or settle payments in instalments, it added.

The decision follows in the footsteps of other developers and some of the city's largest financial institutions, which have rolled out relief measures to mitigate the outbreak's impact on local businesses.

〈Macau Daily Times, February 13, 2020〉Faris Mokhtar Co-living concepts are largely similar across Asia. Residents pay for a private room with a bed, and common areas like living, dining, kitchen and often bathroom, are shared.

Singapore’s Figment Pte is setting out to change that, offering residents their own piece of the city-state’s history and local flavor.

Its residences are heritage shophouses — some built in the 1930s — with differing interior concepts. At one in Little India, a 10-minute drive from the Orchard Road shopping district, the space has a mix of colonial and oriental vibes.

At its entrance, columns have been hand painted with animal-patterned chinoiserie by an artist flown in from China’s Fujian province; Islamic-influenced eaves adorn the roof.

Stepping into the house, the walls and staircases are chalk white. The floors and kitchen splash-backs are fitted with charcoal tiles. In the living room, a rattan sofa is surrounded by large, leafy plants, evoking the feel of being in one of Singapore’s ‘black and white’ colonial bungalows. Each bedroom has a private ensuite bathroom and kitchenette.

〈The Standard, February 12, 2020〉Hong Kong's biggest landlords have begun to cut rents for their commercial tenants, with Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016) cutting shopping mall rents by 30-50 percent for February as Hong Kong street shop vacancy rate is expected to reach a record high.

This comes a day after the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong, which has major local developers as its members, said it will explore more relief measures with tenants on a case by case basis.

SHKP expects the relief measures will help ease the operating pressure of a large number of its tenants, especially those in the catering sector.

The developer said its businesses, including residential property sales and hotel occupation, have been affected by the coronavirus outbreak since January.

Wharf Real Estate Investment Company (1997) was reported to have announced a similar move for its Harbour City shopping center, cutting this month's rents by half.

A spokesman replied that they are unable to disclose details of the lease agreements or any variations due to confidentiality agreements signed between the mall and its tenants.