Real eState
Saudi Real Estate Refinance Co aims to raise around $800 mln via domestic sukuk – CEO – Reuters
DUBAI, Sept 6 (Reuters) – Saudi Real Estate Refinance Co (SRC), the Saudi equivalent of U.S. mortgage finance business Fannie Mae, will soon issue around 3 billion riyals ($798.34 million) in local currency sukuk, or Islamic bonds, its chief executive said on Tuesday.
HSBC (HSBA.L), Bank AlJazira (1020.SE), Al Rajhi (1120.SE), Riyad Capital (1010.SE) and SNB Capital (1180.SE) are running the debt sale, which is expected as soon as next week, CEO Fabrice Susini told Reuters in an interview.
The company is in discussions with local banks to refinance real estate financing portfolios and the sukuk sale is in anticipation of closing those deals, Susini said.
“We have a couple of transactions coming in the pipeline in the coming weeks, so we anticipate the purchase and want to have the liquidity ready to be deployed,” he said.
The issuance will be the first since SRC received regulatory approval to double its domestic issuance programme to 20 billion riyals from 10 billion riyals.
SRC’s balance sheet doubled between 2020 and 2021 and is expected to roughly double again this year from last year, Susini said.
Rising interest rates slowed mortgage lending in Saudi Arabia in April and May, though the rate of growth picked up again in June and July. Research showed banks’ mortgage exposure increased by 30% in the second quarter compared with 60% growth in the first quarter, Susini said.
“My feeling is, on the one hand, you can’t dismiss that if the rates are increasing – which is the case – you will see probably a slowdown in the mortgage origination. And therefore the numbers we saw in June, July are possibly an indication of a blip, but it’s not necessarily a long trend (if rates continue to rise).”
Macroeconomic conditions like high oil prices, strong GDP growth, job growth and government subsidies are supportive of the market, but growth in mortgage lending could slow further depending on the magnitude of interest rate increases and whether those macroeconomic conditions change, Susini said.
He said a large number of mortgages already originated were fixed-rate. “That will insulate the borrowers and that should limit the impact of the rate increase on the repayment capability of the borrowers.”
SRC, which is owned by the country’s sovereign wealth fund PIF, is aiming to issue its long-planned debut dollar-denominated sukuk in the second quarter of next year, Susini said. JPMorgan (JPM.N), HSBC and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) are setting up the issuance programme for that debt sale, he said. read more
($1 = 3.7578 riyals)
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Real eState
National housing market in ‘holding pattern’ as buyers patient for lower rates: CREA
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Real eState
Two Quebec real estate brokers suspended for using fake bids to drive up prices
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Real eState
Montreal home sales, prices rise in August: real estate board
MONTREAL – The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers says Montreal-area home sales rose 9.3 per cent in August compared with the same month last year, with levels slightly higher than the historical average for this time of year.
The association says home sales in the region totalled 2,991 for the month, up from 2,737 in August 2023.
The median price for all housing types was up year-over-year, led by a six per cent increase for the price of a plex at $763,000 last month.
The median price for a single-family home rose 5.2 per cent to $590,000 and the median price for a condominium rose 4.4 per cent to $407,100.
QPAREB market analysis director Charles Brant says the strength of the Montreal resale market contrasts with declines in many other Canadian cities struggling with higher levels of household debt, lower savings and diminishing purchasing power.
Active listings for August jumped 18 per cent compared with a year earlier to 17,200, while new listings rose 1.7 per cent to 4,840.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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