(SYDNEY) Centro Properties Group, the owner of 700 US shopping malls, slumped 76 per cent in Sydney trading.

Hard times: Melbourne-based Centro suspended dividends and said it may have to sell assets after lenders gave it until Feb 15 to renegotiate maturing debt

It said it’s struggling to refinance debt because of the collapse in the US sub-prime housing market.

Melbourne-based Centro suspended dividends and said it may have to sell assets, after lenders gave it until Feb 15 to renegotiate maturing debt.

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IPO proceeds of $19.1m to be used for Asian expansion.

Malaysian-based, Australian-listed property company United Overseas Australia (UOA) is seeking a secondary listing in Singapore to help it grow in the region.

UOA now focuses on mid to high-end residential and commercial projects in Kuala Lumpur. ‘But we are looking to go into other countries such as China, Vietnam and India,’ director Alan Winduss said yesterday. A Singapore listing will ’spread the word about UOA faster’, he said. ‘We need a base in Asia for faster expansion in the region.’

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11-year-high interest rates hit borrowing for second straight month in Oct.

(SYDNEY) Australia’s home loan approvals unexpectedly fell for a second month in October as interest rates at an 11-year high discouraged borrowing.

Higher bill: November’s interest rate increase added A$42 a month to the average A$250,000 home loan, according to the Housing Industry Association

The number of loans granted to build or buy houses and apartments fell 0.7 per cent to 62,509 from September, when they slipped a revised 2 per cent, the Bureau of Statistics said yesterday. The median estimate of 21 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a one per cent increase.

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Site in The Rocks will have apartment tower, terrace homes, retail units.

Singapore-listed Stamford Land, the hotel and property arm of shipping tycoon Ow Chio Kiat, is planning to build some of Australia’s most expensive homes on the site of two old demolished warehouses and a heritage building.

Mr Ow: Stamford is committed to the upmarket end of the housing market throughout the region

Mr Ow bought the 99-year leasehold site on Sydney’s The Rocks area fronting Gloucester Street and Cumberland Street for A$22 million in June 2004 and is developing a 30-storey building with 122 apartments, five luxury terraces and commercial and retail space, at a total cost of some A$220 million (S$279 million).

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Australian fund managers have been encouraged to tap the opportunities in Singapore’s real estate investment trust (Reit) market.

A recent seminar at the Sydney Opera House highlighted to Australian investors the burgeoning Singapore Reit market and the opportunities available.

The seminar was co-hosted by Australian companies Freehills, nabCapital and Trust. These companies said they are leveraging on the strong working relationship between Australia and Singapore to help Australian fund managers understand the legal and regulatory requirements and to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the Reits market in the Republic.

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The number of approvals gained 6.8% to 13,710 from August.

(SINGAPORE) Australia’s home-building approvals rose almost seven times as much as forecast in September as a housing shortage and rising rents encouraged investors to buy property.

Sold: A housing shortage and rising rents encouraged investors to buy property, causing home-building approvals to rise more than expected

The number of approvals to build or renovate houses and apartments gained 6.8 per cent from August to 13,710, the Bureau of Statistics said yesterday in Sydney. The median estimate of 23 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a one per cent increase.

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(SYDNEY) Australia, one of the best-performing advanced economies, faces looming economic turbulence from the sub-prime lending meltdown in the United States, Prime Minister John Howard warned yesterday.

Last Friday, Australian Treasurer Peter Costello had warned of an approaching international financial ‘tsunami’, with China at its epicentre.

‘We are entering a more difficult time of economic management. There are storm clouds on the international economic horizon,’ Mr Howard told Channel 9 television yesterday.

He was speaking on the campaign trail for Australia’s federal election on Nov 24, which the coalition government is fighting largely on its economic credentials.

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