Property

Hybrid working is wild card in office slump

21 Nov 2022

Workspace landlords like British Land and France’s Gecina are facing a storm. Higher interest rates are cutting property values, just as a weak economy pushes up vacancy rates. And, with UK workers spending half their week at home, employers have plenty of scope to cull space.

China’s property easing is minor capitulation

14 Nov 2022

Beijing has rolled out quick-fix measures like extending repayment periods to avert defaults and lowering mortgage down-payments, a signal that officials are sticking to their guns on deleveraging despite economic stress. That makes boosting the rest of the economy more urgent.

Tech mess hastens Irish economic turn inwards

11 Nov 2022

Multinationals like Meta Platforms bring in a quarter of Ireland’s $68 bln tax revenue, and the salaries they pay prop up its housing market. Now they’re shedding staff, the risk is a budget hole. Irish business may not like how a future Sinn Féin government would fill it.

Hong Kong’s real-estate correction has no winners

25 Oct 2022

Property prices are falling due to rising interest rates, a brain drain and a weak local economy. That sounds like good news for the world’s most unaffordable housing market. But first-time buyers and homeowners face rising mortgage costs, adding pressure for developers, too.

The urgent search for the perfect inflation hedge

20 Oct 2022

Nearly every major asset class has lost money this year, leaving investors scrambling to protect their wealth from rising prices. Traditional alternatives such as gold and property also have drawbacks, writes Edward Chancellor. The best shield may be the most obvious one.

Bank mortgage tweaks presage bigger political hit

14 Oct 2022

Spain’s CaixaBank proposed a rate freeze, while UK lenders favour ad hoc relief for struggling borrowers. As interest costs soar, these won’t be enough to avoid a mess. Since cash-strapped governments can’t help, they may hammer banks with Polish-style blanket payment holidays.

Blackstone converts Indian property to safe haven

6 Oct 2022

A $500 mln shopping mall listing would lay another cornerstone in the U.S. titan’s push to build a local market for REITs. Their decent returns and scarcity value in India can put a good roof over long-term investors’ heads. That’s all the more enticing given global volatility.

Capital Calls: Buffett’s Berkshire successor

4 Oct 2022

Concise views on global finance: The Omaha oracle owns $100 bln of stock in his conglomerate. His potential successor Greg Abel’s purchase of $68 mln of stock last week – after selling shares in a subsidiary for $870 mln in June – is too small a move toward Buffett’s standard.

Canary Wharf’s post-pandemic property conundrum

4 Oct 2022

The east London financial hub’s owner is expanding even as tenants like HSBC consider ditching their leases. In this Exchange podcast, CEO Shobi Khan explains how renting out swanky apartments and luring a new breed of tenant can insulate the landlord from a property slump.

Capital Calls: Apple tests discretionary spending

28 Sep 2022

Concise views on global finance: The company’s reversal on iPhone 14 production is a sign that inflation-battered consumers are thinking differently about discretionary items.

UK swaps one cost-of-living crisis for another

27 Sep 2022

The Bank of England may raise rates past 5% to stem the inflationary effect of Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s tax cuts. Homeowners, saved by the government’s energy price cap, now face a surge in mortgage costs. That will sap growth and add to pressure for banks to help customers.

China property IPO bets on big name to calm fears

22 Sep 2022

The country’s largest developer, Vanke, wants an $8 bln valuation for its services unit in Hong Kong’s top float this year. That’s below an earlier price tag, reflecting the sector’s fragile state, but still pricier than some peers. A brand premium in soft markets looks bold.

Anxious Kaisa investors throw good money after bad

21 Sep 2022

Foreign bondholders in the Chinese property firm, which has $12 bln of offshore credit in default, are offering $2 bln to take over stalled projects plus restructure debt. A similar proposal failed last year, but as its woes worsen, Kaisa may reconsider. Pricing is the trick.

Capital Calls: UBS fintech U-turn, UK housebuilder

5 Sep 2022

Concise views on global finance: CEO Ralph Hamers cancels the $1.4 bln acquisition of robo-adviser Wealthfront; Countryside Partnerships accepts a 1.3 bln pound offer from UK rival Vistry just three months after rejecting a higher bid.

Hong Kong developers’ China edge has limits

5 Sep 2022

The Asian hub’s tycoons including New World’s Adrian Cheng are eyeing prospects in the People’s Republic as rivals struggle. Conservative balance sheets will help. Yet that prudence also damps total returns to levels that stronger mainland peers have consistently beaten.

Cash buyers have whip hand in London office slump

17 Aug 2022

The value of the UK capital’s buildings could fall 12% in the next 18 months, Bank of America reckons. But private equity houses will struggle to swoop as high interest rates make debt-fuelled purchases uneconomic. Cash-rich pension funds will put a floor on price declines.

Capital Calls: Chinese property bonds

16 Aug 2022

Concise views on global finance: Beijing plans to guarantee new domestic fixed-income issues by half a dozen homebuilders, but that’s hardly enough to revive overall demand for housing.

Capital Calls: Tech bros give Allbirds the boot

9 Aug 2022

Concise views on global finance: The maker of popular nondescript sneakers with a purpose is getting tripped up on demand. Its stock price pounding may make it vulnerable to a takeover.

Country Garden snagged by risky ties that bind

28 Jul 2022

A plan by China’s biggest property developer to raise equity led to $2 bln in lost market value for its management company. There’s growing concern about the unit’s independence after a scandal at rival Evergrande. A cleaner break, like having a different board chair, might help.

China’s multi-layered property crisis explained

21 Jul 2022

Homeowners in the world’s second-largest economy are refusing to pay mortgages on unbuilt homes. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists describe how government deleveraging policy destabilised the sector – and President Xi Jinping’s unpalatable options for fixing it.