BRIEFING - ASIA REAL ESTATE - SEPT 24, 2007

BRIEFING - ASIA REAL ESTATE - SEPT 24, 2007.
House prices have increased at three times the rate of wages in Australian capital cities over the past decade, a research paper suggests. ' ... we note that while wages have increased 56 per cent on average, house prices in Australia"s major capital cities have increased 168 per cent since June 1997.' HK"S GREAT EAGLE GROUP TO INVEST US$1.6 BLN IN CHINESE INLAND BEIJING - Great Eagle Group, a Hong Kong property and hotel heavyweight, plans to invest ten billion Hong Kong dollars (US$1.3 billion) to open at least 30 hotels in the Chinese inland in five to ten years. Great Eagle Group president Lo Ka Shui made the remarks when the group signed a management agreement with Beijing Capital Airport Hotel recently. HBFCL MANDATES PAKISTAN"S FIRST `MORTGAGE-BACKED SUKUK" KARACHI - The House Building Finance Corporation Ltd (HBFCL) has mandated Standard Chartered Bank (STB) Pakistan Ltd, AMZ Securities (Private) Ltd and Emirates Global Islamic Bank Ltd to act as a financial advisors to arrange an Islamic Sukuk, (securities that comply with Islamic law), amounting to Rs.3 billion (US$49.4 million) to finance the ongoing business operations of HBFCL.