HK/China Property and Conglomerate News (08 Feb 2010)

CR Land becomes Hang Seng Index constituent: Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited announced the results of its review of the Hang Seng Family of Indexes for the period ended December 2009.
More stringent terms in Beijing’s coming land sales: 3 land sites located at Da Wang Jing District will be put on the sales list for bidding soon. Stipulated as one of the terms in the transferal, it is stated that the successful bidders should pay off all the land premium in one time and apart from the residential units and service apartments, other properties are prohibited to sell at strata-title.
Several banks in Shenzhen lifted the mortgage rate for 1st home buyers: As reported by Hexun, out of the 10 major banks in China have raised the mortgage rates by lifting the mortgage rate discount from 70% to 85% for the first home buyer
Over 150 units sold in Kerry’s Island Crest at HK$14,000psf: The developer revealed that 150-160 units were transacted on the first two days since launching on Saturday.
Recovery in HK office market: Midland Realty cited that due to the resumption of the expansion, many end-users corporate are on the track back to acquiring office units for own-use and more new-high transaction prices are reported. Insurance and other financial institutions are the major buyers. Besides, the rental market also turns more active.
Transaction volume in secondary market declined 47% WoW in the weekend: According Midland, only 36 units were transacted in 10 key mass estates in HK due to the shifting of the focus to the primary market.
Shanghai to speed up social welfare housing construction: The local Housing and Construction Bureau said that increasing the supply and construction of social welfare housing will remain as the top agenda item for Shanghai in the year.