HK - Economic Data & News 01 (May 08 - Sep 14)

Re: HK - Economic Data & News 01 (May 08 - Dec 12)

Postby winston » Thu Nov 22, 2012 6:07 pm

World's most expensive parking placesBy Ramy Inocencio, CNN

Hong Kong (CNN) -- Nestled within Hong Kong's dense skyscraper jungle, a $640,000 property sits among some of the world's most expensive commercial and residential spaces.

The price might sound like a steal. This Asian financial capital has the world's priciest property, according to Savills. Since the start of 2010, average Hong Kong home prices have doubled.

But the price tag mentioned here is neither for a home nor an office.

It is for a parking space: A slab of undecorated concrete, stained by black motor oil, about 8-feet-by-16-feet in size. Price per square foot: nearly $5,000.

Jacinto Tong has owned and used this space for the past ten years. Described in local media as "the tycoon of parking spaces," he is effusive when talking about this particular "priceless" gem.

"I think this is the best car park space I ever had," said the CEO of Gale Well Group, a property firm that owns hundreds of residential and commercial spaces across the city. "You can go straight to the office and the elevator. Only 20 steps -- 20 steps!"

The $640,000 parking space

Hong Kong punctures property bubble The CEO does not own just one $640,000 parking space. Tong owns two.

If he were to sell he could bank $1.3 million.

"People don't mind paying more," boasted Tong. "But I'm not eager to sell."

And yet that is the reality for Hong Kong.

According to the latest Parking Rate Survey by Colliers International, the global property services firm, this city has the most exorbitant monthly parking fees in the Asia-Pacific.

Hong Kong's monthly median parking rate was $744.72 in 2011. With less than a dollar's difference, Tokyo came in as Asia's number two.

The reason for Hong Kong's pricey parking rates is rooted in governmental curbs on the city's residential market, said Buggle Lau, chief analyst at Midland Realty, one of the city's largest real estate companies.

Many analysts believe Hong Kong's property market is a bubble waiting to burst. To deflate it slowly, the government has introduced a series of increasingly stringent policies since November 2010. These have made it more expensive for investors to buy or flip homes for a quick profit.

The regulations have produced desired results, said Lau, leading to a 31% fall in home sale transactions over the past 23 months. But, as a side effect, the squeeze on residential investors has pushed them into commercial property, like parking spaces, which have no such price curbs yet.

While homes sale transaction volumes have fallen since November 2010, trade in parking spaces has risen more than 25%, Lau added. The volume of industrial, commercial and retail have surged 16% as well.

Fast price rises and higher yields on leased parking spaces have attracted more investors to this niche market.

"If you look at this year's (total sales) number, it's the highest in the past ten years or so," Lau said. "Through November of this year, Hong Kong had car park transactions totaling $751 million. In 2010, it was $525 million." This rise marks an increase of 43% so far this year.

Tong, the parking space tycoon, breaks down rental yields by property category.

"The lowest yield of all property is (retail) shops, maybe less than 2%. The second thing is commercial, which is about 2% to 2.5%, and then residential which is about 3%. Parking spaces should be about 5%."

Hence, some of Hong Kong's hottest investment vehicles are where people keep their motorized ones.

But Lau, the property analyst, cautions against casual investment in parking spaces. If Hong Kong's economy stalls the first thing people will get rid of will be their cars.

No car means no need for a parking space. But a home will always have a use.

"If you buy a parking space," said Lau, "you can't live in it."

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/21/busin ... index.html
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Re: HK - Economic Data & News 01 (May 08 - Dec 12)

Postby winston » Mon Nov 26, 2012 6:15 am

Angry Beijing expected to tighten grip by Eddie Luk

Communication between Hong Kong and the central government remains unsatisfactory, with Beijing likely to tighten ideological control.

That was the warning sounded by political commentator Danny Fung Chun-chiu at the City Forum yesterday.

The am730 associate publisher said slogans such as "we are Hongkongers" have touched a nerve in Beijing - prompting Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, to say "external powers" are interfering in the territory's domestic affairs and elections.

"Such slogans have touched a tender nerve and Beijing now feels that the bottom line is being tested," Fung said.

Zhang has lashed out at "external" interference, and said mainland officials are saddened by the sight of colonial flags being waved during protests.

At the forum, Holden Chow Ho-ding, chairman of the Young Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said locals should not only think of themselves, but also try to understand and listen to the mainland side to improve communication.

But Civic Party leader Alan Leong Kah-kit refuted Zhang's claim and instead accused the central government liaison office officials of interfering in the recent District Council and Legislative Council elections - helping their favorite candidates secure votes.

Meanwhile, National People's Congress Standing Committee member Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai said she doesn't feel Zhang is putting pressure on the SAR to enact national security legislation.

"Zhang only said the SAR can enact [Article 23] at the appropriate time, and that it is up to the SAR government to determine when that is," Fan said.

Zhang earlier said "necessary measures" were needed to combat external interference.

He said Hong Kong should pass the Article 23 legislation "in due course."

Zhang's words, in an article published in the pro-Beijing newspaper Wen Wei Po, sparked alarm among pan- democrats, who said it may indicate a harder line by Beijing towards dissent in the territory.


http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_deta ... 21126&fc=1
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Re: HK - Economic Data & News 01 (May 08 - Dec 12)

Postby winston » Mon Feb 11, 2013 6:07 am

In pictures: Political spoofs at Hong Kong New Year fair

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-21347958
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Re: HK - Economic Data & News 01 (May 08 - Dec 12)

Postby winston » Mon Feb 11, 2013 6:33 pm

Hong Kong food prices rise more than 100pc since 2007 by Joyce Ng

The prices of some common foods such as rice and beef, have surged by over 100 per cent across Hong Kong since 2007 – far outpacing the 18-per-cent growth in income of public housing residents in that period – a Labour Party survey has found.

The party said on Monday that its survey compared prices and income from 2007 to last month.

It found that one of the city’s poorest areas – Tin Shui Wai – has the most expensive food, with pork and beef prices more than 50 per cent dearer than in other districts.

Tam Chun-yin, the party’s community officer, called for the government to introduce a negative income tax to subsidise people earning below a certain amount, to help them survive amid high inflation.

Tam said: “We believe the exorbitant food prices in Tin Shui Wai are caused by a lack of market competition. The government should build public markets there as they do in other places.”

All six markets in Tin Shui Wai are run by the listed group Link Reit, a real estate investment trust. In other districts there are markets managed by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department.

The survey, conducted in January, covered 30 markets in different parts of Hong Kong, looking at prices of 16 food items including rice, pork, beef, chicken, fish and vegetables. Surveyors then compared the average prices to prices recorded by the government in 2007.

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/arti ... 100pc-2007
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Re: HK - Economic Data & News 01 (May 08 - Dec 12)

Postby winston » Tue Feb 12, 2013 11:04 am

Why do you need to have your office in Central ?

2013-02-01 11.34.43.jpg
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Re: HK - Economic Data & News 01 (May 08 - Mar 12)

Postby winston » Sun Sep 08, 2013 6:57 am

Taishan nuclear plant safe, says deputy general manager Olivier Bard

Deputy general manager argues nuclear facility to operate from December is no threat to city

A manager of a power station labelled "the most dangerous nuclear power plant in the world" by Hong Kong engineer Albert Lai Kwong-tak sought yesterday to dismiss talk that it poses a threat to the city.

The nuclear power plant 130 kilometres away in Taishan, Guangdong, is due to start operating by December and will be the first in the world to use a new Franco-German pressurised-water reactor, known as EPR.

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/arti ... ivier-bard
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Re: HK - Economic Data & News 01 (May 08 - Dec 13)

Postby winston » Sat Sep 21, 2013 5:58 am

Super Typhoon Usagi, 'world's strongest storm of 2013', heading for Hong Kong

Update Super Typhoon Usagi, believed to be the most powerful storm on Earth in 2013, was on Friday on course to make landfall just kilometres from Hong Kong, according to storm-track predictions.


Source: SCMP
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Re: HK - Economic Data & News 01 (May 08 - Dec 13)

Postby winston » Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:57 am

Hong Kong in a Tizzy Over Newfangled Nuclear Reactors

A set of nuclear reactors being built just 60 miles away from Hong Kong is unnerving residents, tapping into deep-seated fears about what a nuclear accident might do to the city.

The plant is currently being constructed in Taishan, a coastal region due east of Hong Kong in southern China’s Guangdong province, and will rely a French technology that has never been used in a fully operating plant before. Accordingly, green groups in Hong Kong say they are worried that its construction will put Pearl River Delta residents at serious risk, should it ever malfunction.

Nuclear power has long been a fraught issue in Hong Kong, with some one million residents signing a petition in 1985 to oppose the construction of the nearby Daya Bay nuclear power plant in Guangdong, which today sends most of its power to Hong Kong.

Tensions were further raised after a small-scale leak in Daya Bay in 2010, with the city last year holding emergency drill exercises to prepare in the event of a disaster, including sheltering practices in schools, deployment of helicopters and activation of emergency radiation treatment centers in hospitals.

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2013 ... -reactors/
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Re: HK - Economic Data & News 01 (May 08 - Dec 13)

Postby behappyalways » Sun Oct 13, 2013 6:46 pm

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Re: HK - Economic Data & News 01 (May 08 - Dec 13)

Postby behappyalways » Fri Jan 31, 2014 11:40 am

Hong Kong tycoon says offer to suitors of lesbian daughter is off the table
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/30/world ... ?hpt=hp_c5
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