New Zealand Herald
28 November 2009
Real estate agents are preparing to increase their commissions by around NZ$200. Jill Quaid, chairwoman of agent First National, says that commissions have to go up within the next year, blaming extra compliance costs generated by new laws governing real estate agents. The average commission is about 3.95% of a home’s sale price, plus a base fee of about NZ$550. Quaid says some offices have already raised this to NZ$750.
South China Morning Post
29 November 2009
Goldman Sachs is in talks to sell a residential investment in Shanghai for more than HK$300m. It is seeking to realise profit in the mainland’s property market before expected policy risks emerge next year, say sources familiar with the decision. Goldman, which bought Garden Plaza in 2007 from Japanese developer Daito Trust Construction for ¥1.43bn (HK$1.62bn), declined to comment. The development is on Hong Qiao Road in Changning district and comprises 53 villas and 511 apartments.
Arabian Business (UAE)
30 November 2009
About 40% of Dubai’s office space is lying empty after the emirate’s construction boom outpaced demand, Knight Frank said this week. Empty office space totals 10m sq ft (929,000m2) in Dubai, the firm said. The vacancy rate for office space in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, is 6%.
Irish Times (Dublin)
1 December 2009
The government has banned the use of clauses in business leases which provide for upward-only rent reviews. Businesses have complained that they are struggling to pay high rents, particularly in city centre areas, because they are tied to contracts that only allow for rents to be adjusted upward, even though market rates have nominally fallen. Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern today signed a banning order under the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act. He said that the section would come into operation on 28 February 2010.
Straits Times (Singapore)
1 December 2009
Office rents in Singapore have fallen by over half in the past 12 months, according to CB Richard Ellis. On average, they fell by 53.4% from their peak in the third quarter of last year to 30 September this year – the second-fastest fall in the world. Only rents in Kiev, Ukraine, fell more quickly, by 64.6%.
