<p><img alt="FredAnzic/Shutterstock" src="/documents/10204/0/china-investment-2018-lead-image-compressor.jpg/8d0d6c55-9a35-498b-8f18-dab5689d5064?t=1549342147179" style="width: 1400px; height: 640px;" />Julius Lee ponders just how much his house has appreciated in the 12 years since he bought it.</p> <p>The 37-year-old electrical engineer bought his two-bedroom apartment in his home town of Dandong, bordering North Korea, for RMB320,000 (USD46,400). It is now worth about RMB600,000. </p> <p>“The price has doubled so far,” said Julius.</p> <p>But that is nothing compared to the sort of gains other homeowners have made since Dandong was swept up in China’s housing boom.</p> <p>“My property would be considered growing slower than average [in Dandong]. For some other properties the price has increased a lot,” he said.</p> <p>The unit price of his property is currently RMB5,000 per square meter. The others to which he is referring lie further west on the route to North Korea where properties fetch around RMB8,000 yuan per square meter.</p> <p>Dandong, a city less travelled among foreigners, has been boosted by a thaw in diplomatic relations between North Korea and the rest of the world, and follows tireless efforts by Beijing to rev-up its economy with big real estate projects – with mixed results.</p> <p><a href="http://property-report.com/detail/-/blogs/a-little-known-chinese-border-town-profits-from-the-north-korea-deten-6" target="_blank"><strong>More: A little-known Chinese border town profits from the North Korea détente</strong></a></p> <p>However, although Dandong’s blossoming should be a vindication of Beijing’s advances to breathe life into stagnant cities, its booming housing market reflects the headache second-tier cities have posed amid efforts to cool the industry.</p> <p>Since 2016, Beijing has made a concerted effort to rein in its real estate industry amid worryingly high property prices.</p> <p>On average, house prices in China have been growing nearly twice as fast as national income over the past decade, buoyed by a rising population and economic growth.</p> <p>In 2016, the government decided enough was enough. Average home prices in 100 major cities in China rose 16.6 percent in September that year, compared with the year before.</p> <p>The government rolled out a raft of cooling measures. One of these was to require some first-time buyers to put down a 40 percent down payment, as opposed to 35 percent. Certain second-time buyers were made to pay a minimum 70 percent, compared with 50 percent before.</p> <p><a href="http://property-report.com/detail/-/blogs/how-the-trade-war-will-alter-the-global-economy-and-chinese-property-mark-1" target="_blank"><strong>More: How the trade war will alter the global economy and Chinese property market</strong></a></p> <p>Wang Menghui, minister of housing and urban-rural development, told reporters towards the end of 2017 that authorities will keep anti-speculative, city-specific measures consistent and will not loosen controls against speculation.</p> <p>"The real estate market must stick to the idea that 'homes are for people to live in, not for speculation'," he said.</p> <p>While some major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have shown signs of a slowdown, second-tier cities have been going strong.</p> <p>The dwindling hostility on the Korean peninsula prompted investors to snap up properties in Liaoning, Hunchun and Jilin provinces.</p> <p>The result of this was seen in May, when China's home prices recorded their fastest growth in nearly a year. The figures highlighted that smaller cities still rely on real estate for growth.</p> <div class="pull-quotes-container">A cat and mouse game is in play as authorities look to keep markets cool in one cluster of cities only to find people funnelling their money elsewhere where regulations have yet to be tightened</div> <p>Posting a statement through its official WeChat account, Dandong Municipal Government said in May that property buyers without local household registration would not be able to resell newly-built property in the city's New District until two years after purchase.</p> <p>Yet while it may take some time before Dandong is brought under control, the measures are taking effect in other second-tier cities.</p> <p>Hainan is China’s southernmost province and is popular for its subtropical climate and clean air – a treasured commodity in smoggy China. It is known as ‘China’s Hawaii’.</p> <p>In March, new home prices in Haikou, the capital city of the island, rose 2.1 percent from the previous month – an increase surpassing any other Chinese city, Beijing and Shanghai included.</p> <p><img alt="Hainan Island, known as the Hawaii of China, is another secondary market that is witnessing house price rises and an upsurge of interest from investors. Sergey Filinin/Shutterstock" src="/documents/10204/0/china-investment-2018-4-compressor.jpg/a09c1e89-0445-41fa-be78-1c2a90733a6b?t=1549342728688" /></p> <p>“The surge in Hainan’s property prices has been fuelled by market speculators. The province probably has more property investors than elsewhere,” said Yan Yuejin, director of the E-house China R&D Institute, a market intelligence firm based in Shanghai.</p> <p>But following measures introduced in April, Hainan has been made to fall in line.</p> <p>Chen Gaige, a real estate analyst specializing in Hainan, told Chinese media that the crackdown is having a noticeable cooling effect.</p> <p>"Prior to the regulations, developers could obtain their pre-sale permit as building tops were being sealed, but now some of them have had to wait three months after construction was completed, yet still haven’t got one," Chen said.</p> <p>"Both the purchase and supply ends have been effectively controlled," Chen said, noting many developers are also taking a wait-and-see attitude toward the local market.</p> <p>In the eastern coastal city of Xiamen, Fujian Province, transactions dipped by 28.63 percent during the first half of 2018 compared to the year before. Further dips are expected in other cities where further regulation comes into effect.</p> <p>At the start of August, Shenyang in northeast China's Liaoning Province expanded restrictions on land related to commercial property purchases.</p> <p><img alt="Cooling measures and local regulations, encouraged by the Chinese government, have affected investor sentiment in previously hot destinations such as Shenyang. aphotostory/Shutterstock" src="/documents/10204/0/china-investment-2018-3-compressor.jpg/6d3bf478-db45-422a-a095-21c2dea9e8ef?t=1549342345427" /></p> <p>Dandong resident Julius said he has detected trepidation among investor friends who were bullish some years ago. One university friend has amassed more than 10 properties in Shenyang since he began investing in real estate in 2009.</p> <p>“He saw that the price would go up. Every day he has earned a lot of money from his investments. He started investing when the prices were going up.”</p> <p>“I met him before and he was very confident in 2010 but I think now he’s not quite as bullish.”</p> <p>In many of the big cities measures to taper demand appear to be working but buyers are scrambling to get a bargain.</p> <p>Real estate services company Jones Lang LaSalle said in a second quarter update that price caps remained in place for new launches in Shanghai and buyers continued to be actively trying to acquire units at below market prices.</p> <p>In Beijing developers have been offering more competitive prices in a bid to increase sales.</p> <p><img alt="Although the centre of Beijing remains one of China's prime spots for investment, there have been signs that the market is easing off in the country's capital. ESB Professional/Shutterstock" src="/documents/10204/0/china-investment-2018-2-compressor.jpg/ead85eb3-5e92-4c63-86c3-987eb28b36b1?t=1549342526840" /></p> <p>“The tight policy stance is unlikely to be relaxed in the short term in China as governments aim to curb speculation and stabilize the housing market. Tight financing conditions and ongoing deleveraging exercises by some developers may see more new projects launched in a bid to ease cash flow pressures,” the report said.</p> <p>Jack Xiong, the China director of Savills research and consultancy, said: “The first-hand, mass-market residential market received ample supply during [the second quarter], the majority of which was joint ownership and price-capped housing. Authorities continued to enforce strict regulations to stabilise average housing prices in the market.”</p> <p>Experts predict that Hong Kong’s prices are unlikely to rise by much in the second half of 2018.</p> <p>Carol Wu, head of China and Hong Kong research at DBS Bank (Hong Kong), said slower annual growth rates are likely to be the norm for the coming decade.</p> <p>“Our prediction of about 5 to 10 percent price gain [in 2018] has already been reached,” said Wu.</p> <p>“Hong Kong’s home price growth will decelerate, rising at no more than 2 percent a year on average through 2030, a rate similar to the inflation rate, given the growth in GDP per capita does not rise beyond expectations.”</p> <p><a href="http://property-report.com/detail/-/blogs/winners-circle-propertyguru-asia-property-awards-china-2018" target="_blank"><strong>More: Winners of the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (China) 2018</strong></a></p> <p>The disparity between the patterns in property prices between big and smaller cities reflects China’s mountainous challenge in putting the brakes on an industry that has been growing wildly for so long.</p> <p>A cat and mouse game is in play as authorities look to keep markets cool in one cluster of cities only to find people funnelling their money elsewhere where regulations have yet to be tightened.</p> <p>This spread of money has brought prosperity to towns and cities largely forgotten and ignored, with new sources of labour. More than 20 second-tier cities hope to attract some of the growing number of educated workers leaving big cities due to the high cost of living.</p> <p>For the likes of Julius, however, all this money sloshing around in property is dizzying and unpredictable. Though he has considered buying a home for investment in the past, he feels he’s better off sticking to what he knows – electrical engineering.</p> <p>“There’s just too much risk in property at the moment.”</p> <p>As cooling measures take hold across the Middle Kingdom it is likely he won’t be the only investor experiencing a certain degree of chill.</p> <p><em>This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.magzter.com/TH/PropertyGuru-International-(Thailand)-Co.,Ltd/Property-Report/Business/316198" target="_blank">Issue No. 150</a> of PropertyGuru Property Report Magazine</em></p>
<p><img alt="While Singapore has made some progress on LGBT issues in recent years, the country’s reputation for conservatism is echoed in archaic rules governing the purchase of the island’s HDB public housing. lazyllama/Shutterstock" src="/documents/10204/0/dispatch+151+lead.jpg/0ef046a4-eb70-4963-adcc-88c55d14ee74?t=1547037355520" style="width: 1006px; height: 667px;" />Singapore can be excused for taking pride in its breakneck transformation from sleepy seaside port to fourth on the International Monetary Fund’s list of richest nations. This 50-year evolution can be partly attributed to the rigid planning that has, on the one hand, fostered the world’s most successful public housing program, and on the other, earned it the reputation of being the governmental equivalent of an overprotective parent. </p> <p>Often called “The Nanny State,” the island nation can be seen as strict with its 5.6 million children. Rules govern what Singaporeans say (speaking against the prime minister and Christianity are both illegal) and how they behave (famously, there are fines for chewing gum, littering, graffiti, spitting, and jaywalking). The upshot is a gross national income of USD78,293 (the second highest globally), and a public program housing 80 percent of the population, 90 percent of whom own their own Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat. </p> <p>However, not all groups are included in the math of Singapore’s success. One such group? Singapore’s Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community. </p> <p>Singapore currently has the world’s second highest rate of home ownership, largely due to a generous system of grants and subsidies the HDB provides its citizens. These, however, come with restrictive conditions. Married heterosexual couples, who can apply for housing grants at age 21, enjoy the biggest advantage; whilst unmarried couples, singles, and gay couples are restricted to applying under the Single Singapore Citizen Scheme or Joint Singles Scheme, both of which require applicants to be at least 35. </p> <p>These restrictions may not be specifically targeted at LGBT families, but Indulekshmi Rajeswari, a lawyer, LGBT activist, and author of Same But Different: Legal Guidebook for LGBT Couples and Families in Singapore, points out the government has stated openly on several occasions that they are meant to “encourage families.” As same-sex marriage is not recognised, “LGBT people are cut out of this definition. Only those in a recognised family unit—primarily married heterosexual couples—are normally allowed to buy a HDB apartment.” </p> <p><a href="http://www.property-report.com/detail/-/blogs/5-best-southeast-asian-cities-for-lgbt-to-buy-prope-15" target="_blank"><strong>More: 5 best Southeast Asian cities for LGBT property seekers</strong></a></p> <p>Ann, a new homeowner who identifies as lesbian, felt pressured to buy private property as she didn’t feel secure waiting eight years to be eligible for an HDB flat. She ponders, “What if I waited until I reached 35, and they say, ‘no, the age is now 45’?”</p> <p>Buying a private flat meant a big mark-up for Ann, whose two-room condo (still three years from completion) cost USD650,000. The same sized HDB apartment would’ve cost a married couple between USD150,000-220,000. Because Ann’s partner is a foreigner, purchasing the apartment together would have resulted in a 20 percent Additional Buyers Stamp Duty. Since her income and savings weren’t enough to secure a mortgage solo, she purchased the apartment with a friend.</p> <p>Some in the industry feel that the limited supply of new HDB apartments, coupled with an elderly generation of homeowners reluctant to give theirs up, is locking many young Singaporeans out of the market. Currently, Singaporeans who qualify for HDB flats have to wait three years for Built-to-Order apartments to be available. “Affordability and costs of living are bigger issues than the alleged ‘LGBT segregation,’” says Wenhui Lim, director of Singapore-based firm Spark Architects.</p> <div class="pull-quotes-container">I know a lot of LGBT couples who have chosen to move their lives elsewhere, because here it is ignored that we are humans, too</div> <p>In fact, a large portion of non-homeowners continue to live at home. Singapore’s 2016 National Youth Council Survey reveals 97 percent of unmarried young people live with their parents. </p> <p>For some in the LGBT community, though, this might not be an option. </p> <p>“If your parents aren’t accepting of who you are, you get chased out of the house,” says Deveshwar Sham, a transgender activist who runs Kopitiam Brothers, a shelter and support group for transgender men.</p> <p>Renting poses its own problems. Legally, LGBT individuals are not protected from discrimination, meaning landlords can opt not to rent to them. Sham relates experiencing first-hand the difficulty of renting a room as a transgender man. “Renting was an issue, because as I was transitioning, I was looking more male, but my ID still showed I was female. Landlords would think, ‘oh, you might be a thief or a con man.’ They don’t discriminate in front of us, or publicly, but they’ll say they already have a tenant,” he relates.</p> <p><a href="http://www.property-report.com/detail/-/blogs/alternative-short-term-rentals-gaining-popularity-in-singapore" target="_blank"><strong>More: Alternative short-term rentals gaining popularity in Singapore</strong></a></p> <p>Since Sham transitioned, his ID now states he is male, making his later marriage to his wife legitimate, and easily qualifying him for the HDB subsidies. Transitioning has drastically improved his life. “If I’d not transitioned, I would have considered traveling out of Singapore,” he admits, “but now that I have, I feel comfortable in my country, and don’t have my rights stripped off of me.” </p> <p>As with some of its more conservative neighbours in Asia, Singapore’s stance towards its LGBT residents could be costing it talent, and money. China, for instance, represents the world’s third largest “pink economy”, with 90 million LGBT Chinese with a total spending power of USD928 billion, according to the World Property Journal. When it comes to where to invest those dollars, they’re more likely to buy property in such foreign markets more accepting of their lifestyle as Bangkok, Phuket, and Manila. </p> <p>Singapore’s policies not only cost foreign investment, but there’s a danger LGBT Singaporeans will emigrate to more tolerant countries when they’re ready to settle down and buy property. </p> <p>Ann, for one, hasn’t ruled out leaving Singapore one day. “Even though I purchased this property, it may not be somewhere I want to be for life. If the value increases, I may want to sell it off and move overseas,” she says. “I know a lot of LGBT couples who have chosen to move their lives elsewhere, because here it is ignored that we are humans, too.”</p> <p><em>This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.magzter.com/TH/PropertyGuru-International-(Thailand)-Co.,Ltd/Property-Report/Business/" target="_blank">Issue No. 151</a> of PropertyGuru Property Report Magazine</em></p>
<p><img alt="A co-working space. Phichat Phruksarojanakun/Shutterstock" src="/documents/10204/0/shutterstock_1051332527-%281%29-compressor.jpg/a1f82c72-e90b-46b3-9c34-f11b7acb9aaf?t=1546499130165" style="width: 1400px; height: 640px;" />Sand in your toes, a light sea breeze ... It wasn’t too long ago that the cliché of a coworking space in Asia centred on dreadlocked digital nomads island-hopping through a professional gap year.</p> <p>And while small business owner-operators can still plug in from a beach shack in Canggu to confer with their factory in Guangdong whilst managing sales in Atlanta, research by Colliers reveals the share of freelancers and independent workers using flexible workspaces dropped by 15 percent over the three years ending in 2017.</p> <p>It’s not that fewer are living the laptop life; no, the flexible workspace market has exploded in Asia-Pacific over the past five years thanks to the enthusiasm of far bigger players on both the supply and demand sides.</p> <p>Big international operators are moving aggressively into the region, including WeWork, which opened its 200th location globally in Singapore in 2017 and is sending its coworking tentacles across Southeast Asia.</p> <p>Major property owners are getting into the act, partnering with flex-space companies and launching their own brands. Governments, noting the benefits of entrepreneurs to their economies, are adding their backing. And multinationals, employing what is referred to as a hub-and-spoke or core/flex approach, now consider flexible spaces an integral piece of their permanent operations, either locating entirely in such real estate or shipping younger, more mobile departments to such “off-sites”.</p> <p>Taken together, it’s little surprise that JLL Research found flexible space stock across Asia-Pacific charting a compound annual growth rate from 2014 to 2017 of 35.7 percent (compared with 25.7 percent in the United States and 21.6 percent in Europe), and the total stock managed by major operators growing by 150 percent.</p> <div class="pull-quotes-container">Everyone is familiar with the dotcom-boom-era ping pong tables, in-house baristas, and—for the luckiest ducks—free beer. They’ve been joined by a sophisticated suite of options appealing to a more diverse, and increasingly corporate, clientele</div> <p>Thailand alone has seen coworking spaces grow from four in 2012 to 132 in 2017—a figure expected to increase by 25 percent in 2018, according to Phattarachai Taweewong, senior manager at Colliers. By 2030, JLL predicts flexible space to comprise 30 percent of corporate commercial property portfolios across Asia-Pacific.</p> <p>Everyone is familiar with the dotcom-boom-era ping pong tables, in-house baristas, and—for the luckiest ducks—free beer. Such mancave perks haven’t gone the way of AOL IMs in this generation, but they’ve been joined by a sophisticated suite of options appealing to a more diverse, and increasingly corporate, clientele. More than letting networking happen organically, flexible work firms are purposefully creating programming and designing interiors to facilitate interaction.</p> <p>Hubba, Thailand’s homegrown first coworking space, has four distinct outlets in Bangkok each catering to different fields, from tech start-ups to artisans and craftsmen. Hubba offers a spectrum of useful seminars (Powerpoint pointers, customer-journey mapping), as well as personalized assistance with management, staffing, and even design.</p> <p>Spaces, another popular player in Bangkok, prides itself on style and flexibility, letting clients reserve anything from a locker to an enclosed area for a team. Their Chamchuri Square location won Best Co Working Space Development at the Property Guru Thailand Property Awards 2018—just a little piece of the global coworking operator founded in Amsterdam in October 2008. “And then Lehman Brothers collapsed,” the founders write on their website. “We thought this would be the end of it for us. But actually, we fit right in that spirit of age. Because of the crisis, everybody was re-thinking work.”</p> <p><img alt="Artist’s impression of Spaces Chamchuri Square, winner of Best Co Working Space Development at the 13th PropertyGuru Thailand Property Awards" src="/documents/10204/0/SPACES-CHAMCHURI-SQUARE-%281%29-compressor+%281%29.jpg/bd56bf05-7b44-4009-9903-5c9fdcf5eaab?t=1546499897860" /></p> <p>The Executive Centre (TEC), a pioneering Hong Kong-based flexible space provider founded in 1994 by Paul Salnikow, who had been seeking short-term office space for a Japanese firm expanding to London, credits the GFC as a gamechanger. “Prior to the financial crisis, TEC interacted with multinationals only when they were opening an office in far-flung locations,” says Pebble Lee, global public relations manager. Today, in Hong Kong alone, 67 percent of their clients are multinationals, including Apple, Morgan Stanley, Facebook and Twitter.</p> <p>TEC now has 20,000 members in Grade A offices in CBDs across 30 markets, having added 23 locations in 2017, and is expecting 30 percent annual growth from 2018. Beyond such prestige fittings as height-adjustable standing desks by 9AM, Herman Miller chairs, and Timothy Oulton furnishing, TEC is about all about innovation, their Hong Kong headquarters a “test kitchen—a place to trial new design concepts, products, and technologies,” Lee says.</p> <p>However, potential barriers belie the stunning growth of coworking spaces in the region. “Corporate culture in Asia tends to be more hierarchical, and not always in sync with the casual, flexible atmosphere,” says JLL research. “According to one industry observer, ‘In many markets across Asia Pacific, space is a reflection of status.’ Large organizations place high value on retaining brand identity and culture. Such concerns, along with the need to protect trade secrets and secure IT infrastructure, must be addressed.”</p> <p>It’s why the most sophisticated players act not only as builders, gatekeepers, event-planners and consultants, but also full-time IT departments, and in the case of WeWork, corporate fit-out contractors and developer partners.</p> <p><img alt="The common areas at a WeWork co-working space in Sanlitun, Beijing" src="/documents/10204/0/20180522_WeWork_Sanlitun_-_Common_Areas-7-compressor.jpg/602f832b-9c5c-47ea-afd9-2ca967c54ca6?t=1546500194327" /></p> <p>And those developers are coming in hot. A handful of large landlords control the supply (in Singapore’s CBD, the 15 largest landlords control 75 percent of Grade A office buildings; in Hong Kong East, three landlords run 80 percent of office buildings), entering the flex-space market themselves. Swire in Hong Kong—which has created its own brand, Blueprint, and inked deals with WeWork and The Great Room—and Ascendas in Singapore, says JLL, have realized they “can add value to their buildings and maintain or even extend their relationships with tenants by offering a diverse portfolio of core and flex space.”</p> <p>Even hotels have followed suit, looking at their business centers as community lounges, particularly in cities not recognized as regional commercial capitals. In Yangon, Shangri-La Group has opened a branch of FlySpaces. The new Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo, has a gorgeous new space called Co-nnect, with pods, private offices, meeting rooms with smart boards for both hotel guests and residents of the capital looking for a prestigious address to conduct business.</p> <p><a href="http://property-report.com/detail/-/blogs/better-together-making-the-most-of-mixed-use-developmen-4" target="_blank"><strong>More: Making the most of mixed-use developments</strong></a></p> <p>While it’s easy to be cynical about the corporatisation of what was once considered a hippy-dippy industry, you might say global expansion has brought the coworking market full-circle. In a recent survey by TEC, members say they value their community as defined by connecting, networking, and collaboration. The firm will soon roll out a client portal, MyTEC, enabling members worldwide to connect directly, give advice, help grow their businesses, and maybe start new ones.</p> <p>The way they might have found common ground while chilling in hammocks in a wired-up beach shack. It may not be sand-between-the-toes, but it is pie-in-the-sky community-minded. And isn’t that the whole point?</p> <p><em>This article originally appeared in <a href="https://magzter.com/TH/PropertyGuru-International-(Thailand)-Co.,Ltd/Property-Report/Business/" target="_blank">Issue No. 151</a> of PropertyGuru Property Report Magazine</em></p>
<p><img alt="The Golden Bridge is lifted by two giant hands in the tourist resort on Ba Na Hill in Danang, Vietnam. Quang nguyen vinh/Shutterstock" src="/documents/10204/0/shutterstock_1152454088-compressor.jpg/4f08053b-085b-4c75-8a7c-2949990f1434?t=1546414490784" style="width: 1400px; height: 640px;" />Secondary markets may not offer the same dynamic business environment as Asia’s major cities. But with Chinese money pouring into the region and sunny seaside resorts developing into worthy digital hubs they offer fertile ground for big returns.</p> <p>In Cambodia, secondary markets have grabbed international headlines in the past year. Sihanoukville, on the southern coast, has been the poster-child for Chinese investment. Also growing in appeal is Poipet, a lesser-known city bordering Thailand.</p> <p>Speak to any tourist or expat who has at some point crossed the border into Poipet, and they’ll rarely have anything good to say about the place. In the absence of any real industry, Poipet has long been synonymous with rip-off merchants, scammers, gamblers, and other unsavoury sorts—a place where visitors cannot wait to leave and where respectable businesses fear to tread.</p> <p>But things appear to be changing.</p> <p>Since economic zones were launched, and a railway line linking Bangkok to Poipet and Phnom Penh completed last July, the city’s property market has taken a surprising turn. “Many investors from the outside are eyeing Poipet as a great investment destination,” says Hor Kunthea, CEO of Sokha Residences Group.</p> <p>Poipet, with its 30 odd casinos and a growing manufacturing industry, is seeing an expanding Chinese and Korean expat community, mirroring the early rumblings of Sihanoukville’s growth spurt. Sixteen real estate projects were completed in 2017, putting more than 1,500 units onto the market. Adding to this, Poipet governor San Sean Ho has announced the government will build a golf course, an artificial river, a giant garden, and floating market.</p> <div class="pull-quotes-container">In Sihanoukville, the market continues to ride its own investment boom. The sleepy town has undergone immense transformation from a faded backwater to a town jacked up on Chinese cash</div> <p>In more established Sihanoukville, the market continues to ride its own investment boom. The sleepy town has undergone immense transformation from a faded backwater to a town jacked up on Chinese cash.</p> <p>Sotharoth Som, managing director of KHCN Investment and Development Co., Ltd, the developer of the 43-storey Seagate Suite project in Sihanoukville, reports rental prices across the board have gone up five to 10 times, with those closer to the city centre being most expensive. Som says foreign investors, mainly from China, are driving the boom, as they “seek the opportunity to obtain higher rental yields than what is offered in their home countries, along with capital appreciation and low barriers to entry.”</p> <p><img alt="Sihanoukville’s Best Residential Development, according to the PropertyGuru Cambodia Property Awards 2018, is The Seagate Suite" src="/documents/10204/0/The-Seagate-Suite-by-KHCN-Investment-and-Development-Co-Ltd-won-Best-Residential-Development-%28Sihanoukville%29-at-the-Cambodia-Property-Awards-2018-for-web-151-compressor.jpg/140feb7c-54d2-4699-b8b8-c9545624ce84?t=1546416006849" /></p> <p>“The Sihanoukville market has emerged as an alternative condominium hub to the Phnom Penh market,” adds Som, pointing out, however, that compared to Phnom Penh, it is still in its infancy.</p> <p>Elsewhere in Asia, secondary cities are similarly enjoying Chinese-powered boosts as ties with the country strengthen.</p> <p>In the Philippines, warmer relations with China have seen developers benefit from rising demand from Chinese employees and investors, while partnerships between Filipino and foreign developers are expected to increase.</p> <p><img alt="Artist’s impression of The Courtyard at the Residences at The Sheraton Cebu Mactan Resort by Appleone Mactan Inc. (AMI), which took home the prize for Best Luxury Condo Development (Cebu) at the Philippines Property Awards 2018" src="/documents/10204/0/The-Residences-at-the-Sheraton-Cebu-Mactan-Resort-by-AppleOne-Mactan-Inc.-%28AMI%29-won-Best-Luxury-Condo-Development-%28Cebu%29-at-the-Philippines-Property-Awards-2018-%282%29-compressor.jpg/369bf1c1-12b0-4670-96f9-b52428e516d8?t=1546415703153" /></p> <p>“Leasing of condominiums in the secondary market remains strong, resulting in lower vacancy and arresting the decline in rents,” states a recent market update by Colliers International, a real estate services company. “Developers should look at housing opportunities in Cebu, Pampanga, and Laguna as offshore gaming firms have started to operate in these locations,” the company advises.</p> <p>Quite like Poipet, Davao City on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao is emerging an unlikely investment haven. The president’s former mayoral city once had a reputation for gun crime; today, property prices are rising. Units on Davao’s Dahican Beach, for example, now sell for PHP10,000 (USD185) to PHP12,000 per square metre compared with PHP1,000 and PHP1,500 per square metre in 2015. </p> <p>“They know that locators from outside are scrambling for any available space here in the city, not only because the President is from here, but because movement of businesses into Davao City has been going on for several years now,” Adrian Tamayo, a Mindanao expert, told the Business Mirror.</p> <p>Meanwhile in Da Nang, Vietnam, holiday homes and tourism-related properties are in high demand. The city’s latest attraction, a 150-metre golden bridge cradled by two enormous stone hands jutting out of the rocky highlands, has become a social media sensation. </p> <p><a href="http://www.property-report.com/detail/-/blogs/rising-dragon-boom-times-continue-in-vietnam-real-esta-3" target="_blank"><strong>More: Boom times continue in Vietnam real estate</strong></a></p> <p>“The main supply [in Da Nang] is in the hospitality and tourism segment,” according to Peter Frieske, founder and managing director of Central Vietnam Realty. Tourism, he says, is rising sharply and analysts predict it will continue to do so. </p> <p>Currently one of the top destinations for Chinese and South Korean visitors in Vietnam, Da Nang received more than five million visitors in the first seven months of 2018—up 30 percent over the same period in 2017, according to the Da Nang tourism department. Of this figure, more than 1.8 million were foreign arrivals, which are up by 54 percent.</p> <p>“The majority of developers are building resorts, with property for sale or condotel villas that are in some way offered with management programmes focusing on returns on investment rather than lifestyle residential properties. When it comes to quality residential projects, the supply is very low,” points out Frieske, adding this is due to the lack of industry in such places.</p> <p>In Phuket where the market has languished in recent years—year-on-year sales dropped 36 percent in 2017—analysts are optimistic 2018 might yield better results.</p> <p><img alt="The Botanica Luxury Villas won the highly competitive Best Villa Development (Phuket) category at the 2018 Propertyguru Thailand Property Awards" src="/documents/10204/0/Best-Villa-Development-%28Phuket%29-winner-for-2018-is-Botanica-Luxury-Villas-by-Botanica-Luxury-Phuket-Co.%2C-Ltd-for-web-151-compressor.jpg/0d1c6751-6bf3-4c63-8430-4b92cde23c40?t=1546415949403" /></p> <p>Knight Frank’s Lalita Siriboon, associate director of research, says Phuket’s condominium market is expected to improve in line with Thailand’s economy and as the expat population on the island grows. “Demand across the market will continue to be driven upwards by international homebuyers, investors, and expatriates, especially those from Mainland China, Russia, and Australia. Besides, we expected to see a larger portion of buyers from South Korea,” she says, adding there are also government efforts to raise the profile of Phuket as a digital hub and “Smart City,” which is forecast to boost real estate in Phuket by 2020 when the project is to be completed.</p> <p>Unlike capital cities where business and industry will always give people a reason to live there, the jury is still out on Asia’s secondary markets. As it is, investors need to carefully decide whether these “capital contenders” really are a place to call home, or just precariously thriving off clever marketing.</p> <p><em>This article originally appeared in <a href="https://magzter.com/TH/PropertyGuru-International-(Thailand)-Co.,Ltd/Property-Report/Business/" target="_blank">Issue No. 151</a> of PropertyGuru Property Report Magazine</em></p>
<p><img alt="One of the top winners at the 2018 Asia Property Awards (Malaysia) is LBS Bina Group, whose LBS Skylake Residence won Best Mass Market Development (Condo) among other honours" src="/documents/10204/0/LBS-Skylake-Residence%2C-won-Best-Mass-Market-Development-%28Condo%29-for-web-compressor.jpg/ce043b3a-f941-4e8e-8c3f-88cb5bba93bb?t=1546244522761" style="width: 1000px; height: 667px;" /><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Spanning roughly a third of the earth</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">’s landmass, the Asia-Pacific region is hom</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">e to more than 60</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> percent</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> of the world’</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">s population</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">—</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">and</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> its</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> rapidly growing </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">cities are beginning to feel the pinch. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{fed141b5-1f33-4608-80d9-dd299f658d05}{53}" paraid="2136570234"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">The urgent need to create</span> <span xml:lang="EN-GB">quality </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">affordable housing on limited land </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">has become a defining iss</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">ue across the region</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">, where soaring property prices </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">and stagnating</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> incomes </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">have left many</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> struggling for a place to call home</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{fed141b5-1f33-4608-80d9-dd299f658d05}{169}" paraid="1758303828"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">But 2018 brought</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> several breakthroughs on this critical front. Recent elections ushered in new administrations in Hong Kong,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> New Zealand</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> and Malaysia</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> all promising to cure their respective housing crises</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> as a top priority</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{fed141b5-1f33-4608-80d9-dd299f658d05}{193}" paraid="593067834"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Innovative design and urban planning firms have cropped up across Asia, breathing new life into mass housing developments and </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">putting sustainability front and </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">centre</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{fed141b5-1f33-4608-80d9-dd299f658d05}{207}" paraid="971224038"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Singapore</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">’s public housing scheme, created in the 1960s, </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">still shine</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">s as the region’s gold standard</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">. Today,</span> <span xml:lang="EN-GB">m</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">ore than 90</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> percent</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> of the city-state’s </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">5.6 million</span> <span xml:lang="EN-GB">residents </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">are </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">homeowners</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">. While the Singapore model isn’t easily exportable, </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">many of </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">its </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">neighbours</span> <span xml:lang="EN-GB">are finding their own unique solutions</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{fed141b5-1f33-4608-80d9-dd299f658d05}{255}" paraid="949502869"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Malaysia </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">suffers no shortage of innovative developers</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">; with more land and lower costs than </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">neighbouring</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> Singapore, the Southeast Asian nation seems to be enjoying a steady emergence from its years-long property malaise. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{fed141b5-1f33-4608-80d9-dd299f658d05}{255}" paraid="949502869"><a href="http://www.property-report.com/detail/-/blogs/better-together-making-the-most-of-mixed-use-developmen-4" target="_blank"><strong>More: Making the most of mixed-use developments</strong></a></p> <p paraeid="{17e113a2-d5eb-4931-9042-88f64f1a703c}{16}" paraid="84162373"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Political headwinds may have helped. In May, Malaysian voters decisively ousted the administration of former Prime Minister Najib Razak</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">, who was deeply embroiled in the 1MDB</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> embezzlement scandal. The new government of Mohammad Mahathir</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">, who returned to power at the age of 93 on a promise of cleaning up corruption and shoring up investor confidence,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> swiftly began a wholesale undoing of Naj</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">ib’s policies</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">.</span> </p> <p paraeid="{17e113a2-d5eb-4931-9042-88f64f1a703c}{34}" paraid="1965582510"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Home-grown</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> firms were </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">more than </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">r</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">eady for </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">change</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> and have seized the opportunity</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">. LBS Bina Group, based in Kuala Lumpur, </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">is among the most prolific </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">when it comes to creating </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">large scale, community-oriented housing, launching</span> <span xml:lang="EN-GB">successful </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">projects</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> in the Klang Valley, Johor</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> and K</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">uala Selangor. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{17e113a2-d5eb-4931-9042-88f64f1a703c}{78}" paraid="193552742"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">LBS Bina swept this year’s Property Guru Asia Property Awards, recognized as Malaysia’s Best Developer and making off with a cache of othe</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">r </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">honours</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> for innovation in mass-</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">market condominiums, corporate social responsibility</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> and sustainability. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{17e113a2-d5eb-4931-9042-88f64f1a703c}{98}" paraid="778241562"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Having already gained a strong foothold, the firm now seeks to lead the way by l</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">owering</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> construction costs through an </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">industrialized building </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">system</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> of pre-cast concrete</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> that reduce</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">s</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> the need for </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">labour</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">. Ong Wei Ling, </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">a spokesperson</span> <span xml:lang="EN-GB">for</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> LBS</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> Bina</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">, says the method results in </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">“cleaner, neater</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> and safer construction sites</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">” completed in a fraction of the time, “</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">helping developers deliver value to invest</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">ors or buyer</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">s awaiting their</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> dream home.”</span> </p> <p paraeid="{17e113a2-d5eb-4931-9042-88f64f1a703c}{152}" paraid="1795545625"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Other firms such as UEM Sunrise Berhad, one of Malaysia’s largest developers, </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">and OCR Berhad Group have been</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> among the most strident designers</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> of af</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">fordable housing, the latter serving as project manager for the massive Yayasan Pahang development in Mukim Penor. Once completed, it is expected to create</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> roughly 25,000 units</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">.</span></p> <p paraeid="{17e113a2-d5eb-4931-9042-88f64f1a703c}{152}" paraid="1795545625"><img alt="Citiesto by Kien A Corporation won Best Affordable Condo Development (Ho Chi Minh City) at this year’s Propertyguru Vietnam Property Awards" src="/documents/10204/0/Citiesto-by-KIEN-A-Corporation-for-web-151-compressor.jpg/e31235f8-535d-4ba9-bff8-7a3d7b04126e?t=1546244571355" /></p> <p paraeid="{17e113a2-d5eb-4931-9042-88f64f1a703c}{152}" paraid="1795545625"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Smaller</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> than the U.S. state of Rhode Island, with nearly seven times the population</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> Hong Kong is home to about 7.4 million people crammed into 2,754 square kilomet</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">r</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">e</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">s packed with high-rises divvied </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">up </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">into </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">miniscule</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> units</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">. Year after year, this semi-autonomous region of China is named </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">one of the most expensive cities</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> in t</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">he world, a vital</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> gateway between East and West</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> that costs an average of </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">USD</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">28,000 per square meter</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">.</span> </p> <p paraeid="{17e113a2-d5eb-4931-9042-88f64f1a703c}{219}" paraid="1540188546"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">“</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">The Hong Kong problem is quite unique</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> and is complicated by the fact that Hong Kong just doesn’t have enough land</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,” says David Ji, director and head of research and consultancy for g</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">reater China</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> at Knight Frank. “T</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">hey have to squeeze as much out of it a</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">s they can.” This conundrum has put Hong Kong’s policymakers in the uncomfortable position of h</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">aving to either create new land</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">masses or convert old</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">er</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> properties for new use. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{17e113a2-d5eb-4931-9042-88f64f1a703c}{219}" paraid="1540188546"><img alt="Topped by an exclusive rooftop garden, Star Polaris 23 by Borey Peng Huoth Group won Best Affordable Condo Development in Phnom Penh this year" src="/documents/10204/0/Star-Polaris-23-by-Borey-Peng-Huoth-Group-for-web-compressor.jpg/6ecefbf3-e21a-4c56-b225-1a0cc998322b?t=1546244589690" /></p> <p paraeid="{17e113a2-d5eb-4931-9042-88f64f1a703c}{247}" paraid="1477051360"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who assumed the territor</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">y’s highes</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">t office in 2017, has said </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">solving the city’s housing crisis </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">is </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">among </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">her top priorities. </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">While plans to build affordable hous</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">ing on roughly 1,700 hectares of</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> artificial islands</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">—</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">a project called </span><em><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Lantau Tomorrow Vision</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">—</span></em><span xml:lang="EN-GB">have come under criticism, she may have few viable alternatives to land reclamation. Property experts sa</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">y Lam has made strides with </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">long-term housing goals, but is bound to face opposition because she</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> has yet to come up with short-</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">term solu</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">tions to help the ma</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">ny Hong Kongers who need homes now</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{ddf9bf7c-2a47-4c78-98d7-98eb596c7559}{42}" paraid="580463262"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">“</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">A</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> comprehensive proposal has been tabled, which has never happened before</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">, </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">and </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">a</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">s a long-term pr</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">oposal this is a positive step,” says </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Ji. </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">“But</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> a</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">ll these measures are </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">planned fa</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">r</span> <span xml:lang="EN-GB">in </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">the future, we’re looking at </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">five</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> to </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">10 years down the line, and b</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">uyers still find it difficult to get on the property ladder.</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">”</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> While prices have risen for 20 consecutive months, Ji says he expects some relief by year’s end. </span> </p> <div class="pull-quotes-container">People are rethinking affordable housing—not as a burden that nobody wants to build, but trying to put affordable housing into private developers’ plans</div> <p paraeid="{ddf9bf7c-2a47-4c78-98d7-98eb596c7559}{92}" paraid="515678092"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">S</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">everal government</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">s</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> in the Asia-Pacific</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> have</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> also</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> mo</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">ved to limit foreign ownership</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">—</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">due in part </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">to concerns about Chinese expansionism</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">—</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">b</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">ut experts say these policies are</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> misguided. </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">New Zealand’s recent ban on foreign residential sales prompted the International Monetary Fund to warn that the policy was discriminatory. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{ddf9bf7c-2a47-4c78-98d7-98eb596c7559}{130}" paraid="2088562221"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">When Malaysian premier Ma</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">hathir suggested curbing foreign</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> ownership of </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">units in </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">the </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">USD</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">100 billion</span><em><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> Forest City </span></em><span xml:lang="EN-GB">project, the idea sent a chill through the investment community. “</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Permitting foreign investors to buy new housing obvious</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">ly increases demand for housing,” says Brendan Coates, a fellow at Melbourne-based think tank the Grattan Institute, “b</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">ut supply also increases if foreign investors enable developers to build more housing than otherwise</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">.” </span> </p> <p paraeid="{ddf9bf7c-2a47-4c78-98d7-98eb596c7559}{134}" paraid="1161917583"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">China’s own reform of land and financial policies are working to keep investors well within its borders. Outbound capital limits have led many Chinese to invest closer to home, while land use regulations have been altered to require a percentage of mixed-income housing on large scale property developments to meet growing demand. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{ddf9bf7c-2a47-4c78-98d7-98eb596c7559}{170}" paraid="1718922565"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">“</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">I think in the greater C</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">hina regi</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">on, people are rethinking affordable</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> housing</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">—</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">not as a burden that nobody wants to</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> build, but trying to put affordable</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> housing into private </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">developers’ plans,” </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">says</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> Ji, of Knight Frank</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">.</span> <span xml:lang="EN-GB">“</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">The trend is changing from ‘whoever pays the highest price gets the land,’ to a more </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">targeted, controlled use of property</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">.</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">”</span> </p> <p paraeid="{ddf9bf7c-2a47-4c78-98d7-98eb596c7559}{170}" paraid="1718922565"><em>This issue originally appeared in <a href="https://magzter.com/TH/PropertyGuru-International-(Thailand)-Co.,Ltd/Property-Report/Business/" target="_blank">Issue No. 151</a> of PropertyGuru Property Report Magazine</em></p>
<p><img alt="The lake at Celadon City, winner of multiple PropertyGuru Vietnam Property Awards this year, including Best Mixed Use Landscape Architectural Design" src="/documents/10204/0/Sustainability-year-end-special-151-for-web-compressor.jpg/f63c772c-a71a-4a89-bcde-b2cab331756b?t=1545891457562" style="width: 1000px; height: 667px;" /></p> <p>Ten years ago, sprawling conurbations like Saigon or Manila—notorious for their infrastructure and environmental challenges—weren’t obvious destinations for seeking out bastions of sustainability. Today, these cities are seeing the rise of world-class projects displaying green credentials, enticing middle-class apartment-seekers who are forming an increasingly sizeable tranche of society in Vietnam and the Philippines.</p> <p>By 2020, Vietnam’s average annual per capita income is predicted to almost double, from USD1,735 in 2016 to USD3,400. With its large population of citizens under 35 transitioning from a primarily rural economy to an urban one, Vietnam’s property market is proving a lucrative environment for developers, tenants, and both local and foreign buyers, with investors from China, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia pumping huge sums into the building sector.</p> <p>In Ho Chi Minh City, two companies are paving the way for sustainable real estate. Gamuda Land, the property development arm of Malaysia’s leading engineering and construction group, started building its 82-hectare Celadon City in 2010, making it the first nature-inspired enclave within this traffic-choked megalopolis. </p> <p>Prioritising sustainable living from the outset, Gamuda introduced such innovations as a rain harvesting system that utilises energy-efficient water tanks to collect rainfall around the property and transfer water to irrigation areas. The integrated township in Tan Phu district, home to 7,300 apartments across four precincts that can accommodate 25,000 people, won the Best Mixed Use Landscape Architectural Design gong at the PropertyGuru Vietnam awards this year.</p> <p><a href="http://property-report.com/detail/-/blogs/can-green-buildings-turn-the-tide-in-climate-acti-10" target="_blank"><strong>More: Can green buildings turn the tide in climate action?</strong></a></p> <p>“Celadon City has more than 16 hectares dedicated to lush parklands [that afford] residents the privilege of enjoying nature,” says communications executive Tran Nam Phuong, adding that the Cultural Village, Central Park, the Celadon Sports & Resort Club, and other gathering places within the property offer a sense of community. It’s a concept that’s proven influential, as demand for green living spaces are increasing. </p> <p>A similar success story is Gamuda City, another landmark project in Southern Hanoi, which confronted the Yen So lake area’s chronic water pollution, garbage disposal, and sewage issues head on. Far beyond building a condo, the development effected the complete rehabilitation of a polluted suburban wasteland, leading to significant public health benefits.</p> <p>Making major inroads into HCMC’s sustainable building boom is CapitaLand Vietnam, whose luxurious, 102-room D1MENSION development in Cau Kho is the first boutique housing development in Saigon—one among CapitaLand’s 13 green estates in the city. Themed projects including De La Sol, D2eight, and d’Edge Thao Dien offer new condominium alternatives to young professionals.</p> <p>“CapitaLand remains committed to building a greener future for Vietnam,” says CEO Chen Lian Pang. “Lowering our environmental footprint creates value for our stakeholders. We incorporate environmental sustainability in all stages of a project, [from] design and construction to operations.” A key wealth creator in the country, the Singapore-headquartered company—which scooped 13 PropertyGuru Vietnam awards this year, including Best Developer, Best Condo, and Special Recognition for Sustainable Development—has built almost 5,000 apartments across six other cities, from Halong to Nha Trang.</p> <p><img alt="Winner of Best Green Development at this year’s Propertyguru Asia Property Awards (Sri Lanka), Clearpoint Residencies Rajagiriya come with self-sustaining gardens instead of ordinary balconies" src="/documents/10204/0/Clearpoint-Residencies%2C-Rajagiriya%2C-Sri-Lanka-by-Maga-Engineering-%28Pvt%29-Ltd-%26-Milroy-Perera-Associates-%28Pvt%29-Ltd.-won-Best-Green-Development-%282%29-compressor.jpg/98d681e9-5b00-41ed-9632-44756bcba7ae?t=1545891791227" /></p> <p>In Metro Manila—another densely populated Southeast Asian city with a burgeoning middle- and affluent class—Taguig-based ArthaLand is a home-grown leader in marrying sustainable credentials with cutting-edge architecture. The property arm of the Century Pacific group has carved a niche in the Philippine market by exclusively focusing on properties that adhere to global and national standards in green buildings.</p> <p>Being the only development in the Philippines to have received the coveted gold certification in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, its flagship dual-towered Arya Residences in Bonifacio Global City is a milestone in the country for its design and eco-friendly features. Arya Residences’ construction naturally channels the breeze, its balconies and ledges lending natural shade into the units, adding meaningful outdoor space even as daylight reaches 75 percent into the indoors. Interiors are decorated using paints and resins with low volatile organic compound emissions, while built-in fixtures and appliances deploy advanced technology to reduce environmental impact and usage cost.</p> <p>Winning this year’s “Special Recognition in Sustainable Development” at the PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards, ArthaLand emphasises human advantages. Arya Residences encourages its residents to live a more environmentally conscious, cost-efficient, and healthy lifestyle. Their advertising tagline, “Green is the new luxury”, is echoed by Raymond Rufino, chairman of the Philippine Green Building Council. “[Sustainability should be more than just achieving efficiency and cost-effectiveness for your property,” says Rufino. “The new frontier for green buildings is improving the health and wellbeing of the people who live, work and play [within your property]. This is a more powerful argument to support going green.”</p> <p>Angie de Villa-Lacson, ArthaLand president and CEO, stresses sustainable architecture has a ripple effect not just for residents, but the property sector at large. “Standardising green measures is a major step in encouraging developers to take sustainability seriously,” she says. “Greening should go beyond landscape and waste management. To fully reap the benefit of sustainability, developers should be able to measure the inputs and outputs of our buildings’ eco-friendly features.”</p> <div class="pull-quotes-container">There has never been a better time for investors to go green. And with developers around Asia adopting sustainable practices,the real estate scene in the region has rarely looked more mindful</div> <p>Further west, Sri Lanka is proving another sustainability powerhouse, largely due to Maga Engineering, the country’s largest construction company whose work covers healthcare, hospitality, transport, and water supply. As the builders of the world’s tallest vertical garden and the first LEED Platinum-rated clothing factory, Maga comes forearmed with impressive green credentials. Its Clearpoint Residencies in the Colombo suburb of Rajagiraya is its most forward-looking residential project to date.</p> <p>Clearpoint’s 171 apartments come with a self-sustaining garden instead of a balcony; its planted terraces and tree plantations absorb sound, boost oxygen levels, provide shade, and reduce heat. Other eco-boasts include cross-ventilated apartments, solar panels, and an automated drip-irrigation system that keeps terraces watered. </p> <p>“Each apartment functions as its own microhabitat, creating a synergy between occupants and their environment,” says sustainability director Mega Kularatne, pointing out that while Clearpoint demonstrably occupies the high-end housing category, innovations inside and outside the building—including waste water recycling which reduces main water usage by 45 percent—actually serve to reduce homeowners’ maintenance costs.</p> <p>With the future of the planet a pressing concern, there has never been a better time for investors to go green. And with developers around Asia adopting more sustainable practices, the real estate scene in the region has rarely looked more mindful.</p> <p><em>This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.magzter.com/TH/PropertyGuru-International-(Thailand)-Co.,Ltd/Property-Report/Business/" target="_blank">Issue No. 151</a> of PropertyGuru Property Report Magazine </em></p>
<p><img alt="M+S Pte Ltd took home a multitude of awards at the South east Asia Property Awards (Singapore) 2016, including Best Mixed-Use Development for the sprawling Marina One Project" src="/documents/10204/0/MIXED-USE-YEAR-END-SPECIAL-FOR-WEB-compressor.jpg/db78649c-3ab0-45c5-ba02-a715c4bc87a7?t=1545888548740" style="width: 1010px; height: 667px;" />From Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast Asian developers are seeing the benefits of <span xml:lang="EN-GB">mingling </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">business with pleasure. Self-contained communities that offer residences, retail, offices, and green space</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">s</span> <span xml:lang="EN-GB">are emerging </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">as the new development paradigm across a region where old ideas of city zoning are being eroded by vertical mixed-use mega-projects. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{5f28e09d-a2dc-479f-ac54-e542f6f93343}{140}" paraid="1469202658"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Singapore’s newly opened Marina One residential and office development has added a tropical, green heart to the CBD in the form of a 65,000-square-foot garden designed in collaboration between Ingenhoven Architects and landscape specialists ICN Design. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{5f28e09d-a2dc-479f-ac54-e542f6f93343}{150}" paraid="1696394645"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Jakarta’s District 8, a development of 11 towers across 4.8 hectares of the Sudirman Central Business District, has also reached completion. Developed by the Agung Sedayu Group, it brings residences and a public park right into the heart of South Jakarta’s financial zone.</span> </p> <p paraeid="{5f28e09d-a2dc-479f-ac54-e542f6f93343}{160}" paraid="1171535369"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">In Bangkok, TCC Group’s One Bangkok (in partnership with Golden Land and Frasers Property Limited) is a US</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">D</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">3.5 billion development that covers an area one third the size of the adjacent Lumphini Park and encompasses living and work space for 60,000 people, including residential buildings, office towers, retail zones</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> and publicly accessible parks and green spaces. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{5f28e09d-a2dc-479f-ac54-e542f6f93343}{178}" paraid="1415884685"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">“Vertical communities often deal with the high density mandated for many Asian city centres,” says Ping Jiang, the design principal at EID architecture. His firm designed</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> the</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> 320-metre-tall OCT XI'AN International </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Centre</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> (OXIC) in </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Xi’an</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">, China, where parks, piazza-style common areas</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> and even terrace streets are positioned over multiple </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">storeys </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">of two skyscrapers. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{5f28e09d-a2dc-479f-ac54-e542f6f93343}{178}" paraid="1415884685"><a href="http://property-report.com/detail/-/blogs/amid-urban-sprawl-and-overpopulation-indonesia-turns-to-model-mixed-use-complex-5" target="_blank"><strong>More: Amid urban sprawl, Indonesia turns to model mixed-use complexes</strong></a></p> <p paraeid="{5f28e09d-a2dc-479f-ac54-e542f6f93343}{208}" paraid="711676717"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">In contrast to sprawling development, </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Jiang points out, “</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">vertical communities create synergy between different uses and foster dynamic neighbourhoods. By integrating business, leisure, retail</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> and residential space</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">s</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">, the design of a vertical community is </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">strategically organised to create a vibrant, permeable urban destination to live, work</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> and visit.” </span> </p> <p paraeid="{5f28e09d-a2dc-479f-ac54-e542f6f93343}{236}" paraid="1336523006"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Analysts </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">at JLL real-estate services predict </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">vertical living solutions </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">will dominate the Asian market. “As cities become more developed</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> and densities become higher, it makes sense to build more mixed-use developments,” says Regina Lim, head of capital markets research, Southeast Asia. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{8d1e62a5-d032-4df1-8f7b-8a9294efb921}{1}" paraid="713210351"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">“Mixed-use developments bring together complementary uses,” she continues. “Retail shops benefit from the natural catchment of offices or hotels or apartments while the residents and workers enjoy the convenience. As maintenance management schemes become more sophisticated, they allow effective property management of these integrated projects. Apartments with these amenities sell well.”</span> </p> <p paraeid="{8d1e62a5-d032-4df1-8f7b-8a9294efb921}{11}" paraid="528223259"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">But not all trends in Asian mixed-use are vertical. Throughout the Philippines, developers continue to favour township-style projects, for which huge land footprints provide fertile ground to design integrated communities from the ground up. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{8d1e62a5-d032-4df1-8f7b-8a9294efb921}{21}" paraid="209441643"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Megaworld Corporation has long been at the forefront of building from scratch new towns whose components stretch from serviced condominiums and rows of townhouses to malls, leisure facilities</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> and shopping districts. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{8d1e62a5-d032-4df1-8f7b-8a9294efb921}{21}" paraid="209441643"><img alt="A view of Le Quest, winner of Best Mixed Use Development at the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Singapore) 2018" src="/documents/10204/0/Le-Quest-compressor+2.jpg/8c40fe6e-596e-48e9-b638-7300655f2415?t=1545889041719" /></p> <p paraeid="{8d1e62a5-d032-4df1-8f7b-8a9294efb921}{35}" paraid="773393810"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">This year alone, Megaworld has announced new residential and commercial developments for its townships in Manila, Pampanga, Pasig City</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> and Bacolod City, while also rolling out a </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">“smart township” initiative </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">to future-proof its existing townships. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{8d1e62a5-d032-4df1-8f7b-8a9294efb921}{53}" paraid="26562931"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Starting with Davao Park District, the “iTownship” programme will see the 11-hectare development fitted with </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">fibre</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> optic infrastructure, bike lanes and rental systems, LED-powered lighting and signage, solar-powered street lamps</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> and vertical open spaces and gardens.</span> </p> <p paraeid="{8d1e62a5-d032-4df1-8f7b-8a9294efb921}{71}" paraid="1402613072"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">While townships have traditionally been confined to </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">once rural areas, UAA Kinming Group’s New Manila Bay – City of Pearl is being developed on a huge tract of reclaimed land along Manila’s shoreline. Projected to open in 2024, City of Pearl broke ground in August 2017 and, when completed, will </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">take up 407 hectares of reclaimed land and connect directly to Roxas Boulevard, a major thoroughfare</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{8d1e62a5-d032-4df1-8f7b-8a9294efb921}{87}" paraid="2117479747"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">For comparison, Thailand’s under-construction One Bangkok mixed-use project—itself a huge project for a capital city cent</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">r</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">e</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">—covers just 18 hectares.</span> <span xml:lang="EN-GB">“There are many townships in Asia</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> but those townships are in the middle of nowhere,” says Nicholas Ho, deputy managing director of Ho & Partners Architects, the Hong Kong-based lead designer of the project. “This township is extremely prime in terms of its location</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">—it’s </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">right smack in the middle of town, with 360-degree</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> views.”</span> </p> <p paraeid="{8d1e62a5-d032-4df1-8f7b-8a9294efb921}{117}" paraid="181183912"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Ho reveals that </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">retail, in the form of </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">a three-kilometre riverfront shopping strip</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">, </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">is not “just </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">a mall</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">”</span> <span xml:lang="EN-GB">but </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">engage</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">s</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> with the central park and </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">the riverside, </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">“</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">so that it becomes a thematic integrated entertainment complex.”</span> </p> <p paraeid="{8d1e62a5-d032-4df1-8f7b-8a9294efb921}{155}" paraid="1088474643"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Similarly</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City’s Thu Thiem New Urban Area will cover a vast 657-hectare site across </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">the Saigon River</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> from the central District 1</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">. Touted as the capital’s new financial zone, it will not only encompass office towers for some 217,000 employees</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> but also enough residential units for a population of 145,000. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{8d1e62a5-d032-4df1-8f7b-8a9294efb921}{177}" paraid="1567294338"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">It’s not only in urban areas, however, where ambitious mixed-use projects are breaking the mould. </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">On</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> the tree-lined shores of Phuket’s Kamala Beach, the US</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">D</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">67.5 million luxury MontAzure development </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">comprise</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">s</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> hotel-managed condos, a lifestyle mall, a 200-room InterContinental Hotel, and Cafe del Mar, which is already part of the development's unique beachfront attractions. </span> </p> <div class="pull-quotes-container">We are spoiled by the compactness of urbanisation, a precursor of mixed-use design. Urbanisation has happened on a global scale and it’s all because we crave connectivity</div> <p paraeid="{8d1e62a5-d032-4df1-8f7b-8a9294efb921}{201}" paraid="1499700467"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">“</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Developers are realising that if they build a core concept</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> it adds value to the project, rather than simply selling parcels of land,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">”</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> says Martin Palleros, founder and director of Tierra Design and the architect behind The Residences at MontAzure. </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">“</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">It</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">’</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">s all about what you can offer the community, and not just in terms of the property components,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">”</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> he adds. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{8d1e62a5-d032-4df1-8f7b-8a9294efb921}{233}" paraid="1823988430"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Nicholas Ho believes that driving Asia’s demand for </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">such </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">integrated </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">developments is an urge to feel connected. “In Asian society, people crave for connectivity a lot more than the rest of the world,” he explains. “We are spoiled by the compactness of urbanisation, a precursor of mixed-use design. Urbanisation has happened on a global scale and it’s all because we crave connectivity.”</span> </p> <p paraeid="{8d1e62a5-d032-4df1-8f7b-8a9294efb921}{249}" paraid="959895416"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Successful mixed-use schemes have the capacity to create diverse, vibrant neighbo</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">u</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">rhoods in which people can live, work</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"> and socialize. They bring round-the-clock life to central business districts. They provide private land parcels with pedestrian-friendly solutions and interlink disparate downtown neighbo</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">u</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">rhoods. </span> </p> <p paraeid="{95a19f8e-4dcf-4edc-b202-d6ced56457f7}{16}" paraid="1522991961"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Ho predicts </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">this integrated, community-driven approach to development will gradually become the new normal. </span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">“</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">The future of mixed</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">-</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">use is going to shift the existing paradigm,” he says. “We will gradually move from the two extremes of urbanisation, urban and suburban, towards one. The walls of living and work spaces are coming down.”</span> </p> <p paraeid="{95a19f8e-4dcf-4edc-b202-d6ced56457f7}{16}" paraid="1522991961"><em>This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.magzter.com/TH/PropertyGuru-International-(Thailand)-Co.,Ltd/Property-Report/Business/" target="_blank">Issue No. 151</a> of PropertyGuru Property Report Magazine</em></p>
<p><img alt="" src="/documents/10204/0/wintersports-piece-lead-image-compressor.jpg/cdc9fe91-ff40-436c-ad8e-a2ed87c71d2d?t=1545622183758" style="width: 1400px; height: 640px;" /></p> <p>The skier lowers her goggles and begins her descent, leaving a spray of powdery snow in her wake as she glides down the piste. At the foot of the slope, she heads for a hot drink, chats with friends, and takes the chairlift back to the top for more.</p> <p>A typical scene for a ski resort, except here both slopes and snow are man-made, the venue—at Harbin in northern China—is undercover, and while outside it is a hot summer’s day, indoor temperature is maintained at below freezing by fans and an underground cooling system.</p> <p>Welcome to the world of winter sports in 2018. Due to rising incomes, the growing appeal of a Western lifestyle, and the utilisation of advanced technology, there’s a new generation of skiers and snowboarders in Asia.</p> <p>Resorts such as Niseko in Japan are enjoying increased visitor numbers. Situated in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, it is one of the world’s snowiest ski destinations with an average of 15 metres of usually dry, light powder every winter, brought in by storms from Siberia.</p> <p>Across the world brand new resorts are springing up, sparking interest in what was at one time fairly exclusive seasonal sports—a good thing as this once robust global industry faces challenges like never before.</p> <p><a href="http://www.property-report.com/detail/-/blogs/6-cool-reasons-why-niseko-luxury-is-on-top-of-the-wor-6" target="_blank"><strong>More: 6 cool reasons why Niseko is on top of the world</strong></a></p> <p>“Climate change is affecting the winter sports industry—from poor season starts to extreme weather conditions, skiers and snowboarders are finding it hard to predict the best time to hit the slopes,” explained Paul Tostevin, Associate Director at Savills, which published <em>Ski Spotlight</em> in 2017.</p> <p>Long-time favourites Zermatt in Switzerland, Vail in Colorado, U.S., and Saas-Fee, situated in the Swiss Alps near the Italian border, top the 2017 report as the most “resilient”, followed by Aspen (Colorado again), Breuil-Cervinia in Italy, and Heavenly in Lake Tahoe, on the border of California and Nevada. Savills’ ‘ski conditions resilience index’ includes such measures as season length and altitude, as well as snowfall.</p> <p>Resorts such as Zermatt have come top despite the fact snowfall has been consistently lower than average in the Alps the last four seasons. Things looked brighter for North America, as last season (2016-2017) delivered larger snowfall than normal. The Pacific Northwest received 110 percent of its normal snowfall, and the figure was 115 percent in the Northeast states.</p> <p>The increase has been a boon, but snowfall in any given season is at the mercy of the weather gods; add to this an ageing population of ski enthusiasts, coupled with changes in how leisure time is spent, and the outlook for winter resorts is not wholly positive.</p> <div class="pull-quotes-container">Unreliable ski seasons are being countered by investments made to attract visitors year-round, and an increase in snowmaking, a technology that is advancing rapidly</div> <p>It’s quite a change for an industry that once provided a booming economy for the resorts mentioned; and one that encompassed lucrative residential property and second home investments.</p> <p>But, said Tostevin, the industry is fighting back. “Unreliable ski seasons are being countered by investments made to attract visitors year-round, and an increase in snowmaking, a technology that is advancing rapidly.”</p> <p>The same report revealed Austrian resorts have spent EUR1 billion (USD1.2 billion) in snowmaking equipment in the last decade, such that “snow-starved slopes can be topped up.” Today, no less than 60 percent of Austrian slopes are covered with artificial snow.</p> <p>Early this year, organisers behind Pyeongchang Winter Olympics employed U.S. company Snow-Making, Inc. (SMI), which mounted 100 snow cannons on towers and carriages in Jeongseon, and deployed an additional 10 mobile snow guns for portable use. Though the city was undeniably wintery during the event—temperatures regularly dropped below –10 degrees Centigrade—it was actually too cold for adequate snowfall.</p> <p><img alt="Although it hasn’t been the easiest time for the ski industry, established resorts such as Zermatt in Switzerland continue to draw in investors. Samot/Shutterstock" src="/documents/10204/0/shutterstock_314015915-compressor.jpg/a089303f-c6c9-4363-9760-55a5866968a9?t=1545801305807" /></p> <p>South Korea hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1988, which kickstarted the country’s transformation into an economic powerhouse and a global leader in the electronics industry. In the case of the Pyeongchang Games, one of the organisers’ stated goals was to help the country become a top winter sports destination in Asia.</p> <p>While Pyeongchang’s legacy remains to be seen, interest in skiing from key emerging markets like China is rising fast. “Middle classes in China, Eastern Europe and Latin America are the skiers of tomorrow and may offset a decline in some mature source markets,” Tostevin asserted.</p> <p>This is echoed by Carrie Law, CEO of Juwai.com, a China-based international real estate website. “China is the world’s largest beginner ski market, which promises huge future growth, and the ski property industry is nascent,” she explained. “The downside of this is that there are relatively few long-time skiers in China. Chinese don’t aspire to the ski-chalet second home as much as to a beach, vineyard, or sophisticated urban lifestyle.</p> <p>“Our research shows that about 18 percent of Chinese skiers have skied overseas, the top destinations being Japan, South Korea, and Switzerland, but there are only about 12 to 15 million Chinese skiers. And most are beginners, rather than experienced skiers who grew up with the sport and in the mountains.”</p> <div class="pull-quotes-container">For the time being, ski areas are considered more as ski playgrounds than as mountain resorts, and one-time skiers account for a considerable portion of skier visits</div> <p>Laurent Vanat, a seasoned skiing expert who produces an annual report on the sport, put things more bluntly: “There is no culture of skiing. Most Chinese skiers do not ski more than once per season. Some ski areas even have paid employees to help skiers get up after they fall and to retrieve their equipment!”</p> <p>In China, added Vanat, “skiing is consumed as a kind of entertainment product rather than a sport that requires repeated practice. For the time being, ski areas are considered more as ski playgrounds than as mountain resorts, and one-time skiers account for a considerable portion of skier visits. Skiing is nevertheless becoming more and more popular among Chinese between the ages of 25-35. About 80 percent of skiers are under 40.”</p> <p>In 2016, China’s State Council approved the 2016-2020 National Fitness Plan, which laid out ambitious targets for fitness levels and increased sports participation. It includes promoting winter sports on a large scale, utilising the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics to spark interest amongst residents. The aim is to have 300 million people participating in a form of winter sports by 2025.</p> <p>It’s an ambitious goal, especially given China’s topography. While there is mountainous terrain, many peaks are too small to be suitable for skiing, or are too steep.</p> <p>But these limitations have led to some creative solutions. Muchengjian Colliery, situated in a western suburb of Beijing and which once produced coal, is being turned into an air-conditioned year-round ski course with an indoor ski tunnel and trails on the slopes above. It will form part of a winter sports park scheduled to host snowboarding events during the Winter Games.</p> <p><img alt="Niseko in northern Japan is known for the consistency of its snowfall and the quality of its powder: two elements that ensure it remains one of the most alluring winter sports destinations in Asia" src="/documents/10204/0/shutterstock_538073608-compressor.jpg/f1bbeaa6-c07a-458d-85f4-217fbb0a23e4?t=1546246669980" /></p> <p>The location of nearby Nashan resort means it enjoys only a smattering of the white stuff in any given season, but is home to 29 state-of-the-art snow-making machines. And last summer, the northern Chinese city of Harbin opened the world’s largest indoor ski resort. The Harbin Wanda Indoor Ski and Winter Sports Resort, which cost CNY40 billion (USD6.3 billion) to build and features slopes that can accommodate 3,000 people at a time. The vast resort also houses a shopping centre, cinema, outdoor theme park, ice hockey rink, theatres, and hotels.</p> <p>It remains to be seen if the Olympics-focused drive, and the increase in resorts in China and beyond, will result in a huge uptake in winter sport participation in Asia. Certainly rising incomes and a desire to escape smoggy cities means numbers are up, but winter sport enthusiasts are—for now—as likely to go abroad for their fix.</p> <p>“There is definitely a huge increase of customers from other Asian countries outside Japan,” said Wu Acme, marketing manager at Niseko resort in Japan, which enjoyed 313,838 visitors last season. “The top three countries for visitors were Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, with China and Thailand rapidly growing as well.”</p> <p>And while new technology and promotional drives may encourage some to try out skiing or snowboarding, it seems a much more basic ingredient may still have the biggest draw: real snow.</p> <p>Wu Acme added: “I wouldn't necessarily say the increase in visitors from Asian countries is because of the Winter Olympics. We have added equipment such as lifts in two of the resorts to better accommodate our beginner customers and we have famous athletes visit, so people see it being promoted.</p> <p>“But really Niseko has become a popular destination mainly because of the amazing quality of snow.”</p> <p><em>This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.magzter.com/TH/PropertyGuru-International-(Thailand)-Co.,Ltd/Property-Report/Business/295140" target="_blank">Issue No. 148</a> of PropertyGuru Property Report Magazine</em></p>
<p><img alt="" src="/documents/10204/0/quick-off-the-blocks-150-compressor.jpg/7b166688-d995-4fae-ad43-da973d6148e9?t=1545406645895" style="width: 1400px; height: 640px;" /></p> <p>With the click of a mouse, an apartment unit in the Ukrainian capital may have become the axis of a forthcoming revolution in real estate. In less than 20 seconds, without the stroke of a pen or even a handshake, roughly USD60,000 worth of the cryptocurrency Ethereum was zapped into the virtual wallet of a seller some 6,100 miles across the globe to complete the first-ever online real estate deal using blockchain technology. </p> <p>This transaction could have a ripple effect not only on the housing market in the former Soviet state, which is slowly recovering from a staggering slump coinciding with the war on its eastern frontier, but also on how investors think about property worldwide. Besides offering quick, secure, remote transactions for ordinary consumers, proponents of blockchain have long envisioned a future where even hard assets like real estate could be tokenized and swapped with the ease of stocks and bonds.</p> <p>“The buyers don’t even need to visit the country where they would like to buy property,” says Alexander Voloshyn, the chief technical officer of San Francisco-based start-up Propy, which facilitated the sale to TechCrunch founder and erstwhile consultant to the company Michael Arrington. Ukraine, which in a bid to lure investors has recently amended regulations on foreign ownership, seemed like an ideal testing ground for a decentralized online property market. “It’s like Amazon,” Voloshyn explains, “but for real estate.”</p> <p>Blockchain-based real estate sales have been in trial stages for years in several countries including Honduras, the United Arab Emirates, Sweden, the U.S. and the U.K., but Ukraine was the first to seal a deal. The country is among the world’s top four exporters of IT products and services, according to the IT Ukraine Association, and produces some of the sector’s most sophisticated developers. Voloshyn, who studied in Kiev, and Propy CEO Natalia Karayaneva saw an opportunity early on when they founded Propy as an electronic title registry, and partnered with the Ministry of Justice in 2017 to explore introducing blockchain to the country’s land reform agenda.</p> <div class="pull-quotes-container">The buyers don’t even need to visit the country where they would like to buy property. It’s like Amazon, but for real estate</div> <p>“Here you’ve got a system that’s more secure, more transparent, and in emerging parts of the world, provides more stable ownership titles than the existing systems in some countries,” says Tom Bill, head of London residential research at Knight Frank. Like many in the industry, he says there are a few clear reasons blockchain is appealing to governments such as Ukraine’s. “In theory it is tamper-proof, and yes, it is a more secure way of trading assets.”</p> <p>Conditions are perfect for experimentation in Ukraine, as the new government seated in 2016 has undertaken bold reforms; the administration sees new tech as both enticing to foreign investors and conducive to its sweeping anti-corruption drive. Years of political unrest are beginning to stabilize following a popular uprising in 2014 that saw a pro-Western government replace an administration closely aligned with Russia. Both land ownership and information technology play central roles in the country’s economic renaissance.</p> <p>Ukraine suffered a serious blow after the global financial crisis, when its property market was at its peak. The years since saw a steady return to normalcy, only to take a nosedive in 2014 amid political instability that led to the ousting of pro-Kremlin former president Viktor Yanukovych and the War in Donbass between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists. In the wake of the conflict, devaluation of the country’s hryvnia currency led to a 68.8 percent drop in housing prices from their 2008 zenith. In the current government’s view, things can only improve.</p> <p><a href="http://property-report.com/detail/-/blogs/5-takeaways-on-fintech-from-the-propertyguru-asia-real-estate-summit-2018" target="_blank"><strong>More: 5 takeaways on fintech from the PropertyGuru Asia Real Estate Summit 2018</strong></a></p> <p>The country is also riddled with corruption, an area where blockchain could, in theory, be immensely helpful because all transactions are public. Ukraine ranked 130 out of 180 countries in the latest annual corruption perceptions index by Transparency International—putting it on even footing with Iran, Myanmar, and Sierra Leone. Viktor Nestulia, director of the Innovation Projects Program at TI Ukraine, says blockchain use for real estate “has great potential, but in the future,” when financial reforms are more advanced and incomes elevated. “For the moment, in most cases [blockchain] will not bring any additional value,” he says. “Rather the opposite: it just increases the cost of ownership.”</p> <p>But Voloshyn says the blockchain model is “suitable for the progress of developing countries,” where industrial leapfrogging can catapult new generations to the frontline of innovation. “Bringing financial opportunity to deserving but underserved parts of the world is one of the motivating factors behind Propy’s stated strategy,” he says. In Ukraine, where the IT sector is highly sophisticated despite the country’s economic strain, blockchain could lure more foreign capital. Globally, mainstreaming the process could also fundamentally change investment strategy and allow money to move more freely.</p> <p>Many real estate professionals see the transition to blockchain transactions as inevitable, if perhaps not imminent, because it advances the industry on two fronts. On the one hand, it makes buying and selling faster and more transparent for conventional transactions (Arrington’s purchase in Kiev took less than 48 hours to complete all seven steps from the creation of a “property object” to a successful payment). These simple and speedy transactions would benefit consumers who could afford to buy property and have access to the technology.</p> <p><a href="http://property-report.com/detail/-/blogs/this-disruptive-tech-will-have-a-deep-impact-on-the-global-economy-in-six-yea-3" target="_blank"><strong>More: This disruptive tech will have a deep impact on the global economy in six years</strong></a></p> <p>But the big-picture goal, experts say, is using blockchain to liquefy property. The ease of transactions would make it possible for investors to seamlessly buy and sell units, or tokenized property assets, at lightning speed—just as they would with stocks. While the use of blockchain to streamline small transactions could become ubiquitous in the not-too-distant future, Bill, of Knight Frank, says the idea of tokenizing property “would require changing the mindsets of investors everywhere.” Not everyone thinks it’s a good idea, but it is a generally agreed upon forecast.</p> <p>“It’s not only possible, but likely,” says Mark Zilbert, executive vice president of the real estate firm Brown Harris Stevens. “But I predict that real estate brokers will both collectively and individually resist the blockchain,” he surmises, “fearing that it will make them irrelevant.”</p> <p><em>This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.magzter.com/TH/PropertyGuru-International-(Thailand)-Co.,Ltd/Property-Report/Business/316198" target="_blank">Issue No. 150</a> of PropertyGuru Property Report Magazine</em></p>
<p><img alt="Demonstrations against the Special Zone Act in Ho Chi Minh City. AEKKAVICH/Shutterstock" src="/documents/10204/0/dispatch-151.2-for-web-compressor.jpg/27c3b5fb-56d3-4507-98fc-f99dbd86610d?t=1544762362731" style="width: 1000px; height: 666px;" /></p> <p>On the ninth of June 2018, scores of Vietnamese took to the streets. The cause of contention: the Vietnamese government’s plans to enact the Special Zone Act, creating three Special Economic Zones (SEZ) across the country.</p> <p>Located in the provinces of Quang Ninh and Khanh Hoa, and the island of Phu Quoc, these new zones promise investors incentives intended to boost real estate development—including a particularly contentious proposal to extend 99-year land leases to foreign investors.</p> <p>Protestors fear this incentive may weaken Vietnamese sovereignty. They believe the policy would be exploited by the Chinese—a fear spawned in part by Vietnam’s history of Chinese rule, as well as the more recent and ongoing territorial dispute between the two countries over China’s militarization of several islands in the South China Sea.</p> <p>In a bid to calm the rising tide of public anger, the government delayed its June 15 vote on the draft SEZ legislation until October. But their attempts to keep the peace failed, as a series of heated and, in some cases, violent protests ensued for three days, resulting to the arrest of around 100 people.</p> <p><a href="http://www.property-report.com/detail/-/blogs/rising-dragon-boom-times-continue-in-vietnam-real-esta-3" target="_blank"><strong>More: Boom times continue in Vietnam real estate</strong></a></p> <p>Though the land lease extension remains a significant issue for the Vietnamese people, common views expressed among the real estate community point to the legislation not having much of an impact on Vietnam’s already thriving property market.</p> <p>“I don’t think it makes a lot of difference for the majority of the investors and developers,” opines David Blackhall, managing director of real estate for Vietnamese investment firm VinaCapital. “If you’re building a commercial building such as a hotel or an office building, you’re on a leasehold anyway, which usually gives you 70 years—and that hasn’t changed,” he points out.</p> <p>Much of the recent growth in Vietnam’s real estate sector has been confined within the main urban areas of Vietnam, including the country’s capital Hanoi in the north, Ho Chi Minh City to the south, and Danang in the central region. It is the government’s hopes that the SEZs will kick-start development in rural areas, boosting economic development at both the local and national level. On that note, questions have been raised over the decision to include Phu Quoc among the SEZs, as development activity in the island has been gaining traction in recent years.</p> <p>Giles Cooper, lawyer and co-director at Duane Morris Vietnam, relates, “Phu Quoc doesn’t make sense because it’s just so ripe for investment anyway. I don’t really see why they need to have the special economic zone [incentives there].”</p> <div class="pull-quotes-container">What procedures are going to be in place to approve these leases of land to the Chinese or other investors who want to do business in the SEZs? Is it going to be done rigorously and with a clear policy on what is appropriate development and the purpose of use?</div> <p>VinaCapital’s Blackhall echoes the sentiment, offering caution that “Phu Quoc is already becoming very developed and could become over-developed if they’re not careful.”</p> <p>It’s also yet to be determined how Vietnamese authorities intend to ensure all development in the SEZs is environmentally and socially responsible. As Cooper puts it, “What are the policies and procedures that are going to be in place to approve these leases of land to the Chinese or other investors who want to do business in the SEZs? Is it going to be done rigorously and with a clear policy on what is appropriate development and the purpose of use?”</p> <p>That should be the cause for concern, points out Cooper. “Licensing policy for investments around the country is tightening up and getting more rigorous in these kinds of areas [such as environmental] but there’s a big question mark around how those issues will be dealt with by the people who will be charged with administering the investments in these zones. There is a danger that there is going to be some reduction in the rigour that is increasing generally [across Vietnam] at the moment,” he states.</p> <p>Vietnam’s real estate has long been underpinned by Asian investment, significantly from Korea and Japan, but more recently, Chinese investors have been eyeing opportunities in the sector.</p> <p>Stephen Wyatt, head of country for JLL Vietnam, affirms this. “We’ve seen a steady increase in investors and developers, and also from individual buyers of residential properties from mainland China over the last two or three years. So, there’s quite a strong interest from Chinese companies,” he says, adding that Vietnam [also] forms part of [China’s] Belt and Road strategy “so it’s strategically located for the Chinese and therefore a pretty important market for them to have access to.”</p> <p><a href="http://www.property-report.com/detail/-/blogs/2019-propertyguru-vietnam-property-awards-now-open-for-nominations" target="_blank"><strong>More: 2019 PropertyGuru Vietnam Property Awards now open for nominations</strong></a></p> <p>That said, Wyatt isn’t convinced that an extension to land leases would result in Chinese investors flooding the market. “The Chinese investment strategy has been to follow the belt-road strategy—meaning, their investment has to follow infrastructure or has to follow an industrial theme. They’re not supposed to be coming into markets and just building residential properties. So yes, there will be interest from Chinese groups,” says Wyatt, “but I don’t see them coming in and dominating the market.”</p> <p>Either way, it is quite apparent that before the legislation is enacted, the Vietnamese government needs to allay public concerns over the extent of China’s involvement in the SEZs, particularly as Chinese interests in the Vietnamese market increase.</p> <p>Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is well-aware of this. At the time of the protests, he was quoted by Tuoi Tre saying, “The party of President Ho Chi Minh is for the country, for people, and no other purposes. No one is that foolish to hand over land to foreigners for them to mess us up. No one would be that naive.”</p> <p>Despite this, there’s a consensus that the government will likely row back on its policy, with Wyatt predicating “a reduced and watered-down version to keep everyone happy.”</p> <p>Whether that will be successful in assuaging the fears of ordinary Vietnamese – preconditioned to be suspicious of the giant to the north – is another question entirely. After all, when it comes to perceived Chinese hegemony, passions have a habit of running high.</p> <p><em>This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.magzter.com/TH/PropertyGuru-International-(Thailand)-Co.,Ltd/Property-Report/Business/316198" target="_blank">Issue No. 150</a> of PropertyGuru Property Report Magazine</em></p>