Real Estate

  Bloomberg Billionaire property investors David and Simon Reuben won approval to turn one of the oldest office towers in London’s Westminster borough into luxury apartments. The brothers will be allowed to turn the Millbank Tower complex near the Palace of Westminster into 207 homes with a skybar and a 150-bedroom hotel, the borough council decided at a meeting. Soaring ...

  Bloomberg It used to be a real estate listing with “Jacuzzi tub” or “crystal chandelier” would draw a lot of eyeballs, leading to higher prices and a speedy sale. These days, a barn door might be the golden (or wooden) ticket. According to a report released on Tuesday by Zillow Digs—the real estate site’s design and home improvement cousin—a ...

Bloomberg Here’s a fun experiment you can try at home: Open the online mortgage calculators of Wells Fargo, Halifax, part of the U.K.’s largest mortgage lender Lloyds Banking Group, and Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and tap in the median income in each country; $53,657, 25,844 pounds and A$59,571 respectively. Which bank looks most generous? If you’ve followed international housing surveys ...

Bloomberg Manhattan builder Extell Development Co. is retreating from a plan to list 38 units at its One57 tower for lease, choosing to sell them instead as demand for luxury rentals slips amid an abundance of supply. The apartments, on the 32nd through 38th floors of the West 57th Street skyscraper, will be listed for sale as condominiums at prices ...

Bloomberg For years, Ji Ping has put up with Beijing’s smog, traffic and high prices, but this could be the last straw. A government plan threatens to pull down the walls of her gated community and maybe even drive a public road through its manicured gardens. “There are already so many things I’m not happy about here,” says Ji, 48, ...

Bloomberg Dubai’s projects market is back with positive growth after recording its second-best performing quarter since 2008 in the first quarter of this year. The emirate saw $6.6bn of new contract awards made in the period. The best total since 2008 was in the first quarter of 2014, shortly after Dubai won the rights to host the 2020 World Expo, ...

Bloomberg Chinese appetite for property in Australia shows no sign of waning after buyers doubled investment in the nation’s homes and offices for a second straight year. Spending on Australian residential and commercial real estate rose to A$24.3 billion ($18.4 billion) in the 12 months through June 2015, up from A$12.4 billion a year earlier and A$5.9 billion in 2013, ...

EMIRATES BUSINESS Cayan Group, the leading property developer in the Middle East, is to launch Samaya Project in the prime area of Erga, north western Riyadh. Spread on 1 million square meters, the billion-riyal project is set to become the ultimate residential destination, offering integrated services in Wadi Hanifah, one of the most attractive spots in Riyadh. Cayan Group has ...

Bloomberg The record number of luxury homes planned in London, equivalent to more than double the size of the city’s Hyde Park, is raising the prospect that developers may be forced to turn some projects into offices as demand falls, according to consulting firm Arcadis NV. Plans are in the pipeline for 35,000 high-end properties worth almost £77 billion in ...

Bloomberg For Pirojsha Godrej, who leads India’s third-largest developer, the pain in the real estate market is spelling opportunities. The son of billionaire Adi Godrej and chief executive officer of Godrej Properties Ltd. expects the firm’s best year ever for new project acquisitions as sluggish sales and a newly passed regulatory bill forces smaller developers out of business. The real ...