今日全球楼市速览(2010.05.07)

　　Mainland China

　　1. Beijing is reportedly considering restricting down payments to developers for uncompleted flats in the latest measure to regulate the sizzling housing market. Down payments and money from mortgages for unfinished flats will be placed in a special account to be overseen by the government, according to the China Securities Journal. The government will allow developers to access the account and use the money in accordance with their capital needs for construction of developments, the newspaper quoted an unidentified source as saying. Pre-sale proceeds will only be allowed to be freely used by developers when the projects are completed and delivered. The proposal is being discussed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the People's Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission, the report said. Developers, which said they had not heard of the proposal, complained it would deal a blow to their cash flow if they were not allowed to freely use the pre-sale proceeds. (SCMP).

　　2. Chinese consumer confidence rose in the 1st quarter of the year to the highest level since 2007 as people became more optimistic over their future, a survey showed. The Consumer Confidence Index in China climbed to a 3-year high of 108, bolstered by better employment prospects, according to a survey by Nielsen Co and the Economic Monitoring and Analysis Center under the National Bureau of Statistics. The survey interviewed 3,500 people across the nation, and found confidence rose faster in rural areas than in cities. "With stronger economic recovery, Chinese people are more confident about their future, and the confidence has been restored to the pre-crisis level," Nielsen said in a statement. The index rose 19 points last year while a reading above 100 indicates expansion. Of the respondents, 71% deemed the employment situation to be "good" or "very good," up 9 points from the previous quarter, while 67% predicted "good" or "very good" personal wealth circumstances. (Shanghai Daily).

　　3. McDonald’s – is looking for new franchise partners in China, expanding a 6-year-old trial program in its fastest growing market, a spokeswoman said. McDonald's relies heavily on franchises in more mature markets such as the United States, but has almost exclusively opened self-operated stores in China since entering the market 2 decades ago. The company launched a pilot franchise program in China, but has so far limited it to 3 franchisees running 6 restaurants. It moved to expand the process in April, posting information on its China Website inviting new franchise applicants as it accelerates a plan to double its China network to more than 2,000 outlets by 2013. McDonald's had asked interested parties to prepare at least RMB2m to cover equipment purchases, joining fee and other expenses, a spokeswoman said. She added that the company would initially experiment with new franchisees in Jiangsu Province near Shanghai. (Shanghai Daily).

　　4. Deutsche Bank – said that it has agreed to pay up to RMB5.75bn to boost its stake in Hua Xia Bank. The German bank's injection is part of a private share placement worth up to RMB20.8bn by Hua Xia Bank to its 3 largest shareholders. With the latest capital injection Deutsche Bank's stake in Hua Xia Bank will rise from 17.12% to 19.99%, the maximum single foreign ownership level permitted by Chinese law. (Shanghai Daily).

　　5. China's biggest developers are borrowing record amounts in Hong Kong, taking advantage of lower interest rates to circumvent a lending crackdown at home. While banks in the mainland demand at least 5.2 percent in annual interest for three-to- five year money, the cost of credit in Hong Kong dollars has fallen to the lowest since November 2004. China Overseas Land &Investment agreed to an HK$8 billion loan in February that pays 1.45 percent at current market levels. China Resources Land said late last month that it agreed to four loans with banks totaling HK$6.2 billion. Agile Property, which has projects in 20 mainland cities and districts, borrowed US$125 million (HK$975 million) in January from a Bank of America Corp unit in Hong Kong. Shimao Property is seeking a US$400 million loan from Hong Kong units of banks including HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered (2888). The loan may pay 3.1 percentage points more than LIBOR, said Nomura credit analyst Annisa Lee. Bond sales in Hong Kong may also pay dividends for companies betting on a revaluation of the yuan. (The Standard).

　　Hong Kong

　　1. Swire Properties has called off its initial public share offering to raise HK$20.84 billion. The share offer had been expected to be the largest in Hong Kong this year but was aborted as the deepening sovereign debt crisis in Europe dampened investor appetite. Swire Pacific said in an announcement to the stock exchange that it would not proceed with the share offer of its property unit. (SCMP).