Beijing Olympics drive development
Since Beijing was selected as the host of the 2008 Olympics in 2001, the city has invested $40 billion in infrastructure projects and venues and has encouraged the development of retail, office and hotel projects.
Last year alone saw the addition of four shopping centers to the city, totaling 1.2 million square feet in retail space. There were also 14 million square feet of office space and 2,500 hotel rooms brought online in 2007.
So far in 2008, 11 shopping centers are scheduled to open, and 15 million square feet of office space and 11,000 hotel rooms are in the pipeline. Marriott International has taken particular advantage of the boom: It will have opened eight new locations, with a total of 3,000 rooms, in Beijing in the two years leading up to the Olympics.
This growth is surprising considering Beijing’s first modern shopping mall opened in 2001.
Some industry experts are cautious of overdevelopment, pointing to economic slumps that occurred following the 1976 and 2000 Olympic Games, in Montreal and Sydney, respectively.
In another testament to China’s steady growth, when Japanese developer Mori Building’s 101-story Shanghai World Financial Center is completed this month, it will be the world’s tallest building for a reign of about a year — before it is surpassed by the Burj Dubai.
The 1,614-foot-tall tower has been in the making for 14 years.
Prices rise in Sri Lanka
While Sri Lanka’s home sales have slowed over the last year, prices continue to rise, and experts still believe residential real estate is a strong mid- to long-term buy.
After years of strife, a 2002 cease-fire between the country’s government and an opposition group brought many expatriate Sri Lankans back at a time when housing was scarce. That influx, plus a recent increase in demand from foreign buyers — namely Indian, Japanese, Chinese and British — in the island nation’s largest city, Colombo, has led to new development and increases in home prices.
But in 2005, the Sri Lankan government introduced a 100 percent property tax for foreigners who purchase homes. The tax is waived in many instances, but applies to the majority of single-family homes and bungalows.
Despite last year’s slow sales, likely due to the tax on international buyers and fears of a resurgence of political violence, home prices were up.
The average price for the highest-end three-bedroom in Colombo now is $557,000, compared to a range of $464,000 to $511,000 last year. A 1,000-square-foot apartment in the city has a starting price of around $200,000, up from a starting range of $140,000 to $160,000 two years ago.
A four-bedroom of around 2,500 square feet would start at around $500,000 now, up from $350,000 two years ago.
Oman market booms
The Arabian Peninsula nation Oman has enjoyed a strong demand for housing after opening its market to foreign buyers in 2006 in an effort to diversify its historically oil-based economy.
One major project, Al Madina Al Zarqa, or the Blue City, is a planned urban development that will stretch along a strip of desert near the sea and hold 200,000 residents. After its completion in 10 to 15 years, it is expected to be the country’s largest project by far.
In the capital, Muscat, rents doubled in the last few years to $910 to $1,170 per month for
a two-bedroom. To control rent growth, the city has capped rent
increases, and instituted minimum lease terms of four years for residential properties and seven years for commercial properties.