戴德梁行：今日全球楼市速览(2010.05.04)

Mainland China

1. China’s increase in bank reserve requirements was aimed at taming liquidity and inflationary expectations, Vice Finance Minister Li Yong said yesterday. Speaking at an Asian Development Bank meeting in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent, Li underlined China's stance on the yuan exchange rate, saying his government wanted to keep the currency stable but continue with reforms. "We will continue to improve the yuan exchange rate formation mechanism and also maintain its stability at an appropriate and balanced level," Li said. His speech, coming after the People's Bank of China lifted bank reserve ratios, underscored how China seeks to balance policy stability with efforts to counter inflationary pressures and a surge in bank credit. The central bank said on Sunday that it was lifting lenders' reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points, effective on May 10, its third increase of that magnitude this year. That will take the bank reserve ratio for big lenders to 17 percent. The move could fuel speculation that officials are preparing for an influx of capital in anticipation of a decision to let the yuan resume its climb, stalled since July 2008. (Shanghai Daily).

Hong Kong

1.The Urban Renewal Authority has gone further than the government in seeking to rein in developers' flat-selling tricks on its projects. The authority's new rules set limits on the number of flats that individuals or company buyers can buy, ban priority sales, and require developers to declare sales to senior managers and their connections, as well as board members. The announcement yesterday followed last week's passage of a motion by lawmakers urging the government to turn its recently announced sales guidelines into legally binding regulations. It is also seen as a response to criticism the authority allowed its co-developer, New World Development, to sell at least seven of the first 30 flats at The Masterpiece in Tsim Sha Tsui to relatives of company chiefs. The eight measures will be applied to forthcoming renewal projects when they are ready for sale. (SCMP).

2. Retail sales in Hong Kong rose in March for the seventh straight month as the economy stabilized. Sales value surged 19 percent and volume rose 17.2 percent, government data showed. Higher-priced items bounced the most with car sales soaring 48.2 percent and jewelry up 41.3 percent. ``We expect double-digit sales growth in April and May, but growth may be lower than the 19 percent in March,'' said Hong Kong Retail Management Association chairwoman Caroline Mak Sui-king. (The Standard).

3. Wheelock Properties bought an old building in Sai Wan at the reserve price of HK$588 million in a compulsory auction yesterday. Executive director Ricky Wong Kwong-yiu said it will take three years to redevelop the 45-year-old Kin Yu building in Belcher's Street into a single-story luxury project. Wheelock aims to pre-sell the 100 homes - between 700 and 1,000 square feet - in mid-2011 at the earliest. Covering 11,125 square feet, the site now has 120 homes and 14 shops. Wong said Wheelock had acquired over 98 percent of the structure, but had to resort to a compulsory auction after failing to buy two units because of inheritance issues. (The Standard).

4. Property investor and developer Chinachem Group yesterday launched its third Hong Kong hotel, underlining its active return to business after winning a legal battle over the ownership of the estate of its former chairman, the late Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum. Director Joseph Leung Wing-kong (pictured), said the group was now a potential bidder in the auction of four sites expected over the next three months. (SCMP).