Evergrande Chairman Detained, Liquidation Looms and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

The mounting woes at China Evergrande, and their impact on China’s property sector, lead today’s collection of real estate headlines from around the region. Vietnam also makes the list with a crisis of its own, and statistics show Greater China fund managers trimming their sails.

Evergrande Chairman Said Held by Police

Xu Jiayin, the billionaire chairman of beleaguered property developer China Evergrande Group, has been placed under police control, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Xu was taken away by Chinese police earlier this month and is being monitored at a designated location, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. Read more>>

Creditors Ready to Seek Evergrande Liquidation

A major group of offshore creditors of China Evergrande Group is planning to join a court petition to liquidate the cash-strapped developer if it doesn’t submit a new debt revamp plan by next month, two sources familiar with the matter said.

The creditor group holds a large portion of Evergrande offshore bonds and, if it decides to join, would add more weight to the petition filed against the developer by an investor in a Hong Kong court. Read more>>

Evergrande Shares Slide Again After Missed Payment

Evergrande shares tumbled for a second day on Tuesday (September 26). They fell as much as 8 percent in Hong Kong trade, following news of more debt troubles.

Its main domestic unit, Hengda Real Estate, said it had failed to make payments due the day before. That came after Evergrande said over the weekend that it was unable to issue new debt. The firm says that’s due to an ongoing investigation into Hengda by regulators. Read more>>

Mainland Netizens Speculate on End Game for Evergrande

The debacle at China Evergrande Group is heating up some of the nation’s social media platforms with discussions about its fate. Some argued the penny stock is worth a punt before another bid to beat the drop. Others said bankruptcy may be inevitable.

The drama took another turn for the worse when the developer’s major onshore unit, Hengda Real Estate Group, failed to repay RMB 4 billion ($547 million) note on Monday, an obligation among $327 billion of liabilities choking the homebuilder. It is talking to bondholders about a solution on a “non-evasion of debt” basis. Read more>>

Vietnam Property Woes Deepen as Novaland Fails to Pay $300M Bond

The turmoil in Vietnam’s property sector continues, with creditors embroiled in a dispute with developer Novaland Investment Group, which has failed to pay interest on a $300 million bond.

The company is committed to resolving the impasse with holders of its 2026 overseas convertible note in “a cooperative spirit, aiming to find optimal solutions that safeguard the interests of bondholders”, Novaland said Tuesday (Sep 26). Read more>>

Greater China PE Firms’ Appetite For Overseas Buyouts Dwindles

Private equity firms in Greater China appear to have waning appetite for overseas buyouts, with dealmaking in the region showing a marked decline this year.

Since the start of 2023, fund managers based in Greater China which includes mainland China, Taiwan, and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao have been involved in 38 buyouts worth a combined $6.9 billion, PitchBook data shows. Read more>>

Major Chinese Banks Cut Mortgage Rates, Impact May Not be ‘Sufficient’

Major Chinese commercial banks have cut rates for outstanding home loans as part of a series of state-directed stimulus measures aimed at easing homebuyers’ debt burdens and reviving the country’s troubled property sector. But the cut might not provide a sufficient boost to demand, analysts said.

A total of 20 state-owned banks, joint-stock lenders and commercial banks said earlier this month that they would begin to cut payments on outstanding first-home loans starting on Monday. Read more>>

Nan Fung Group to Open Airside Mall in Hong Kong’s Kai Tak

Hong Kong real estate developer Nan Fung Group has scheduled the soft opening of Airside, a monumental new 700,000 square foot (65,032 square metres) shopping mall in Kai Tak, for September 28.

Strategically located in the heart of Kowloon, with direct access to the Kai Tak MTR station, Airside is a 1.9 million square foot, 47-storey mixed-use commercial landmark designed to be seamlessly integrated into the area’s comprehensive transportation network. Read more>>

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