MAY
22, 2007
NATIONAL NEWS
PLACE: NEW DELHI
India seeks to slow overseas debt flow in real estate
India ’s decision to ban overseas borrowings by local
real estate companies is aimed at curtailing debt flows,
finance minister P Chidambaram said. “The idea is
to slow down external debt in the real estate sector,”
he said in New Delhi on Monday. India last week banned real
estate companies from raising funds overseas to develop
townships, its latest measure aimed at limiting foreign-exchange
inflows that has spurred the currency to a nine-year high,
hurting exports.
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=164843
PLACE: NEW DELHI
Govt reviewing pre-IPO placements of real estate firms
The government is having a relook at the policy governing
the pre-initial public offer sale of shares by real estate
companies to foreign investors. “The department of
economic affairs and department of industrial policy and
promotion have come around to the view that the pre-IPO
sale of shares by real estate companies should be given
the status of FII investment,”
sources said.
http://www.businessstandard.com/common/storypage.php?autono=285175&leftnm=0&subLeft=0&chkFlg=
PLACE: NEW DELHI
The choice is between collective welfare and builder prosperity
When India desperately needs to urbanize in order to sustain
a growth rate of 8% or more, isn’t it perverse that
the authorities should be choking off every type of fund
flow into real estate? The trouble is the government has
not summoned the political courage needed to fix the root
problem of artificial shortage of urban land and so keeps
treating the symptoms of the underlying malaise.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Policy/The_choice_is_between_collective_welfare_and
_builder_prosperity/articleshow/2065804.cms
PLACE: MUMBAI
Parsvnath sees strong profit growth on cheap land bank
Real-estate developer Parsvnath Developers Ltd. expects
strong profit growth to continue in the next few quarters,
as it sees value gains from projects built on land acquired
cheap years Ago.The Company posted a sharp jump in January-March
net profit to 1.32 billion rupees, from 375 million a year
earlier. Revenue rose 70 percent to 4.12 billion rupees.”
We are starting construction at old projects. This land
was acquired earlier at much cheaper rates," Chairman
Pradeep Jain told Reuters.
http://www.ndtvprofit.com/homepage/news.asp?id=299255
PLACE: BANGLORE
Godrej Properties to build Bangalore residencies
Godrej Properties, the real estate arm of the Godrej group,
has initiated two projects worth Rs 850 crore in Bangalore.
The company's Bangalore entry is through Godrej Woodsman
Estate, a 2.3 million square feet residential project being
built in phases. The project is located on 15 acres about
1 km from Hebbal flyover on the Bellary Road.
http://www.businessstandard.com/smartinvestor/storypage.phpleftnm=0&subLeft=10&chklogin=N&autono=285254&tab=r
PLACE: NEW DELHI
New FDI norms unlikely to affect Hutch deal
The Revised foreign direct investment (FDI) norms that could
impact several crucial sectors like telecom, real estate,
banking and retail may finally be out by July. Commerce
minister Kamal Nath on Monday said a host of pending issues
like direct and indirect holdings and beneficial ownership
would be addressed in the revised guidelines.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Policy/New_FDI_norms__unlikely_to_affect_Hutch_dea
l_/articleshow/2065766.cms
PLACE: NEW DELHI
TEA WITH BS: Subhash Chandra
It's not easy to draw the Essel Group chairman into a conversation.
His responses to elaborate questions are brief and to the
point. That set the tone for the meeting with India ’s
original media mogul Subhash Chandra, and that is precisely
what Chandra is doing through E-City Entertainment that’s
into real estate and multiplexes under the Fun Cinemas brand.
“We have 200-plus screens on our own and through associates
like INOX (owned by Gujarat Flurochemicals), which is an
extended family.
http://www.businessstandard.com/lifeleisure/storypage.php?leftnm=lmnu4&subLeft=3&autono=285151&tab=r
PLACE: NEW DELHI
Single consortium to develop project
The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to award the contract
to build and operate a Rs8,482 crore urban- commuter rail
project in Hyderabad, the biggest in the country, to a single
consortium, instead of three as planned earlier. Analysts
said service revenues rarely contribute to more than operating
costs in capital-intensive metro rail projects. “If
you see the Hong Kong metro, they are making most of their
revenue from real?estate,” said Akhileshwar Sahay,
president,infrastructure advisory division for New Delhi-based
project management firm, Feedback Ventures.
http://www.livemint.com/2007/05/22011747/Single-consortium-to-develop-p.html
PLACE: NEW DELHI
KSL completes 80 mn dlr FCCB issue
KSL Realty and Infrastructure Ltd, engaged in textile and
property businesses, on Monday said it has raised 80 million
dollars (Rs 327 crore) through issue of Foreign Currency
Convertible Bonds (FCCBs). KSL is engaged in the manufacture
of cotton yarn, knitted fabrics and finished garments. Besides,
the company has launched a real estate development business
with major development projects at six locations in India
.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Cons_Products/Garments__Textiles
/KSL_completes_80_mn_dlr_FCCB_issue/articleshow/2064842.cms
PLACE: MUMBAI
Re at 9-year high, hovers near 40 mark
The rupee threatened to breach the 40 mark on Monday, forcing
the Reserve Bank to break its month-long hiatus and defend
the dollar. Corporate, meanwhile, are gearing up for a rupee
at sub-40 levels. The rupee firmed up despite some bearishness
over RBI’s move to curb foreign money in real estate.
The RBI typically intervenes in the forex market to prevent
the rupee from growing stronger against the dollar, as a
rising local currency makes domestic exports less competitive.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Re_at_9year_high_hovers_near_40_mark/articleshow/2065660.cms
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
PLACE: FRANCE
Investors seek real estate opportunities outside the United
States Investors seeking the cheapest property stocks are
buying in Japan, Germany and China after a two-year tumble
in shares of U.S. homebuilders. Japanese land prices are
raising for the first time in 16 years, yet shares of developers
trade at less than a third the global average, according
to UBS. Meanwhile the start of real-estate investment trusts
in Germany is spurring demand for housing stocks valued
at about half the worldwide mean.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/20/business/bxstocks.php
PLACE: NEW YORK
Real estate vet picked for GE's Denver office
GE Real Estate's Denver office has hired Richard Morean
as senior director for the North American Equity Division.
Morean, a 19-year local real estate veteran, will be one
of the Denver office's top executives and will oversee growth
in the Rocky Mountain region for the equity division. Morean
reports to Chris Overberg, managing director of GE Real
Estate's Dallas operation. He also has held senior positions
at Trammell Crow Co. of Dallas and Seattle-based Kennedy
Associates Real Estate Counsel LP.
http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2007/05/21/daily7.html
PLACE: UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Leading real estate consultancy provides world-class training
for agents
Landmark Properties, one of the United Arab Emirates leading
real estate consultants, has teamed up with internationally
renowned Mr. Dirk Zeller, author and real estate expert,
to provide its property consultants with world class training
and customized teaching.
http://www.gowealthy.com/realestate/news/2362/detail.asp
PLACE: SAN DIEGO
With $38M in Land for Sale, City Hits Real Estate Market
The city of San Diego hit the real estate market with full
force Monday, placing 18 properties worth an appraised $38
million up for sale. The bundle of properties, which includes
downtown high-rises, million-dollar La Jolla homes and vacant
dirt lots, represents the first large-scale land sale in
recent memory for a city with vast real estate holdings.
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2007/05/22/news/01sales052207.txt
PLACE: WEST INDIES
Real estate wrap: AMC Delancey continues its transformation
AMC Delancey Group Inc. continued a selling spree of its
commercial real estate holdings as it transforms itself
into a company that invests in real estate operating partnerships.
The private Philadelphia real estate firm sold what it calls
its Heartland portfolio for $30.45 million. The portfolio
was comprised of 12 office, flex, warehouse and industrial
buildings in central Pennsylvania.
http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2007/05/21/daily1.html
PLACE: CALIFORNIA
Executive admits real estate venture was scheme
A former executive of a company that promised real estate
riches but really took millions in a pyramid scheme admitted
Monday that he lied to investors, the U.S. attorney's office
said.Henry Allen, 63, of the 5500 block of Clemens Avenue
in St. Louis, pleaded guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud
and money laundering. He said in court that he was initially
fooled by the Global Power Global Wealth Enterprises president
and CEO, Andre Mitchell. "We thought we were on the
ground floor of a company that was going to be doing something
great," Allen said of himself, his wife and others.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/D792AF19CE88474E86257
2E3000EEBA4?OpenDocument
PLACE: VIETNAM
Oil billionaires interested in Vietnam’s real estate
The interests in Vietnam’s real estate of billionaires
from oil exporting countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and
Bahrain is a new phenomenon but the Republic of Korea will
still be the top investor in Vietnam’s real estate
market.
http://www.vneconomy.com.vn/eng/?param=article&catid=03&id=61883819e131e6
PLACE: MIAMI
Real Estate & Development-Miami-Based Group Invests
More in Memphis
Geographically and culturally, South Beach is a long way
from Beale Street, but that hasn't stopped a group of Miami
investors from plunging into the Memphis multifamily market.
"Memphis came up on our radar as a place where the
real estate market had been at the bottom for a long time,
and there was some opportunity there," Papunen said.
"We saw that there's some definite upside."
http://www.memphisdailynews.com/Editorial/StoryFocus.aspx?&id=97176
PLACE: CANADA
OFW remittances fueling growth in real estate
UP TO A third of the record-high foreign remittances sent
home by expatriate Filipino workers is spent on real estate,
making the current property market boom more durable than
previous episodes, according to industry players and market
watchers. In an interview, Century Properties managing director
John Victor Antonio said his firm noticed this trend as
early as two years ago when dollar remittances sent by overseas
Filipino workers (OFWs) started to pick up.
http://www.asianjournal.com/?c=187&a=20358
PLACE: VIETNAM
Mideast investors eye local real estate
Several groups from the oil-rich Middle East states of Saudi
Arabia, Quatar and Bahrain are exploring investment opportunities
in Viet Nam, said Marc Townsend, director of CB Richard
Ellis Viet Nam, adding that real estate deals in the major
cities of Ha Noi, Da Nang and HCM City were exciting their
greatest interest.
http://www.vneconomy.com.vn/eng/?param=article&catid=03&id=b9c6f6cb13e70b
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