A CONSTRUCTION firm based in China’s north-east with a string of commercial and civic projects under its belt is listing in Singapore.

Sino Construction aims to raise net proceeds of $35.6 million with its initial public offering (IPO) of 152 million shares priced at 39 cents apiece.

The company’s customers are mainly property and infrastructure developers and government-related bodies.

The offer, launched yesterday, comprises 6.4 million public-offer shares and 146 million placement shares.

Of the proceeds, $17.5 million has been earmarked for a concrete mixing base, $10 million will be used to purchase construction equipment, and the rest will serve as general working capital.

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The number of people who are losing their homes has reached record levels.

(WASHINGTON) The Federal Reserve proposed new regulations on Tuesday to clean up a broad array of deceptive mortgage lending practices, a move that represents the central bank’s most significant response to the nation’s housing tumult.

The proposed rules signify a shift by the Fed towards an active regulatory role over the mortgage business and would affect a wide range of borrowers, lenders, banks, and brokers.

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(NEW YORK) Mortgage applications in the US fell last week by the most since 2004 as a jump in interest rates caused purchases and refinancing to decline, a private survey showed.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index decreased 20 per cent to 653.8 from 881.8 the prior week. The group’s purchase index fell 11 per cent and its refinancing gauge plunged 27 per cent.

Loan restrictions and a glut of unsold homes on the market are prompting buyers to wait for even bigger price discounts, economists said. Higher borrowing costs and more foreclosures suggest that the real-estate slump will continue to hurt economic growth well into 2008.

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(LONDON) The British real estate industry is in danger of talking up a deeper market correction than is warranted, Robert Peto, chairman of property services firm DTZ said on Tuesday.

‘Clearly, we are in the middle of a massive readjustment,’ Mr Peto said, referring to a record 4 per cent slump in commercial property capital values in November. ‘But the unusually swift speed of this means we will reach a clearing price for UK commercial property much more quickly, and the recovery can begin,’ he said.

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Business model, project locations, land bank among factors cited.

(HONG KONG) Moody’s Investors Services has affirmed the Baa3 issuer and bond ratings of Shimao Property Holdings Ltd. The ratings outlook remains stable.

‘Shimao Property’s Baa3 rating is based on its competitive business model, attractive project locations, sizeable land bank, growing investment property portfolio, and strong brand name in mainland China,’ says Peter Choy, a Moody’s vice-president and senior credit officer.

‘It is also supported by a financial profile that is moderately leveraged - when compared to most of its peers - and likely to prove more resilient to unforeseen volatility in its business environment,’ says Mr Choy.

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Inaction may stem from his view of reputation as a built-in safeguard of free enterprise.

Why did Alan Greenspan fail to act while the roots of the sub-prime mortgage crisis spread? Here’s one possible explanation: The Ayn Rand disciple held fast to his unwavering laissez-faire beliefs.

Mr Greenspan: ‘A fly-by-night securities operator can quickly meet all the SEC requirements, gain the inference of respectability, and proceed to fleece the public.’

Tuesday’s New York Times carried a front-page article chronicling the many warnings the former Federal Reserve chairman received about aggressive sub-prime lenders luring unsuspecting customers into crazy mortgages they never could afford. ‘Where was Washington?’ the newspaper asked. And where was Alan?

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Purchase of units in GuocoLand’s condo under development in Bukit Timah is biggest of its kind.

(SINGAPORE) Foreign institutional investors continue to bulk buy apartments in new residential developments in Singapore.

Money spinner: GuocoLand’s pre-tax profit from the sale of the 97 units alone works out to around $500 million. The company bought the former Casa Rosita site in April 2006 for $280 million or $706 psf per plot ratio

The latest deal - and biggest such transaction to date - is Kuwait Finance House’s $818.4 million purchase of 97 four-bedroom apartments in GuocoLand’s freehold condo, Goodwood Residence. The property is being developed on the former Casa Rosita site.

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(JAKARTA) Indonesia’s economic outlook for next year is stable, but the poor of South-east Asia’s biggest economy look set to gain few of the benefits, experts said on Monday.

Worries remain: Though the economy is expected to grow at above 6.3% next year, rising food prices, poverty and joblessness are major concerns

Strong domestic consumption and overseas demand for commodities were likely to push economic growth to between 6.2 and 6.8 per cent in 2008, said Made Sukada, director of the central bank’s economic research unit.

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(MUMBAI) Citigroup, Singapore’s Government Investment Corp (GIC) and other international investors are buying 15 per cent of a real estate venture of India’s Shapoorji Pallonji group for about US$300 million, Indian papers reported.

The deal involved investments in six projects in the commercial, residential and shopping malls sectors in Kolkata, Pune, Nagupur and other cities, the Economic Times reported yesterday, citing an unidentified source.

It said that the deal was worth US$290 million, while the Times of India said the stake was valued at US$320 million.

A spokesman for Citigroup in India declined comment.

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