Saudi Arabia has revealed plans for a proposed cube-shaped building called “The Mukaab” in Riyadh, the capital city, that can hold 20 Empire State Buildings. The structure will be 400 meters high and 400 meters long on each side covering 19 square kilometres. The completed structure will have over 100,000 residential apartments, 9,000 hotel rooms, 1.4 million square meters of office space, and an additional 980,000 square meters of retail space. It will also feature community facilities, hospitality hubs, and tourist attractions. The project is backed by the Public Investment Fund.Read more

According to an analysis conducted by UK company Buildworld, Canberra has been designated as the world’s capital city with the largest average home size, which stands at an impressive 256.3 square metres. This is a considerable 560% larger than the average home size in Moscow, which ranked last with an average size of just 45.5 square metres, and 36% larger than Cairo, which ranked second with an average size of 188 square metres.Read more

According to a regulatory document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week, a subsidiary of Brookfield Corp, the asset manager, is unable to repay loans associated with two buildings in Los Angeles, California. The Brookfield DTLA Fund Office Trust Investor owns two properties, which are the 777 Tower and Gas Company Tower, and both buildings have outstanding debts of approximately $290 million and $465 million, respectively.Read more

The average home rental cost in Singapore has now surpassed that of Hong Kong, which has long been known for its notoriously expensive real estate market. Singapore's political stability, successful management of the pandemic, and influx of multinational companies have all contributed to the increase in rental costs. However, analysts do not expect rental prices to skyrocket again in 2023. On the other hand, they predict that Hong Kong's rental market may rebound this year, given the lifting of its anti-pandemic measures.Read more

According to official data released earlier this month, home prices in China increased in January for the first time in a year. This rise in prices was attributed to the end of the zero-COVID policy, property policies that were favourable, and market expectations of additional stimulus measures, all of which increased demand. Based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), new home prices rose by 0.1% on a month-on-month basis in January, compared to a 0.2% decline in December.Read more

As a result of significant gains following years of rising housing prices, homeowners are increasingly drawing on their equity. According to TransUnion data, homeowners took out 333,537 home equity loans in the third quarter of last year. The credit bureau reported that this is the highest number of home equity loans on record dating back to 2010 and represents a 47% rise from the same quarter in 2021. Banks also extended 405,646 home equity lines of credit, or HELOCs, to borrowers in the third quarter, up 41% from a year earlier.Read more

According to IBC Focus, a construction market research specialist, the construction industry experienced a 20% yearly growth in 2022, totalling 29,719 projects in the country Romania. The private residential segment accounted for 31.2% of all projects and marked a 17.3% increase from the previous year. The industrial segment followed closely behind, with a 15.33% share and 5,960 projects, compared to 5,347 in 2021. The hotel and recreation segment came in third place, with 4,615 projects, or an 11.87% share. Investments in infrastructure, which showed the fastest annual growth, came in at sixth place with 3,093 projects in 2022.Read more

An unauthorised border crossing south of Montreal has recently seen an increase in asylum seekers coming from the US into Canada's second-most populous province. While Canada's open immigration policy exacerbates a housing scarcity, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under pressure to tighten border controls. Public services cannot accommodate all the influx as parts of the country already suffers problems with housing, enrolment in schools and shortage of hospital staff. Even though the government has promised to double the rate of housing development, there is a huge gap between demand and availability.Read more

India's Hiranandani Group-owned Yotta Data Services has announced its partnership with Bangladesh's Shamsul Alamin Group (SAG) to aid in the growth and expansion of its business in the country. Yotta has committed to an investment of over Tk2000 crore to develop its Hyperscale Data Centre Park in Dhaka in the next 4-6 years. The park will feature two hyperscale data centre buildings with 4800 racks and 28.8MW IT power capacity. The first data centre building is slated to go live in Q3 of FY2024.Read more

Hong Kong's government is facing criticism over its $3.4 billion temporary housing plan aimed at easing the city's chronic housing shortage. Hong Kong's Chief Executive, John Lee, pledged to construct 30,000 units of 'Light Public Housing' within five years, with the hope of reducing the waiting time for public housing from six years to four and a half years. However, critics have slammed the scheme as a 'band-aid solution' and have questioned its high cost. The scheme has also been criticized for its proposed location. Some of the planned sites are in faraway urban areas, making the homes inaccessible to many people.Read more