October 28 - November 3, 2015
12 | PROPERTY | financialmirror.com
Cities with the highest rents for prime office space Hong Kong is the most expensive city worldwide to rent prime office space, according to Knight Frank’s Skyscraper Index. The annual rent for a square foot of office space in one of Hong Kong’s towers amounts to $255.50. In second placed New York City, renting a square foot of high-rise office space would cost $153 – over $100 less than in Hong Kong. Even though rents are expensive in Hong Kong and New York, they grew at a rate of only 2% in the six months to June. In London, on the other hand, rent for prime office space grew 11% during the same period of time, driven by the completion of several new towers as well as a buoyant occupier market. The annual cost of renting a square foot of office space in a high-rise building in London comes to $122. (Source: Statista)
Handy’s launches alarm monitoring service Handy’s Security Systems has launched a high tech 24/7 alarm monitoring service for immediate response to emergencies that can also be connected to any alarm or security system of any provider. The central service offers the possibility of receiving and responding to signals of burglar and safe alarms, fire, personal threat, medical emergency, system violation or failure, detection of temperature changes, humidity levels or water and gas leaks and pressure, and access control. Once the signal is received by the 24/7 station, the operators will call the premise in order to confirm that the alarm was not triggered by mistake. If the owner is unreachable or it is confirmed that it is a real alarm then the central station will notify the appropriate service or person (police, fire department, hospital) as well as the contact list that the subscriber has provided. The central station is housed in a building that has all the necessary security systems as well as the mechanical, electronic and telecom facilities that enables the station to operate on a 24/7 basis (uninterruptible power system - UPS, electric generator and independent large-capacity batteries). “Combining cutting-edge technology and highly trained staff, we took full advantage of the technical capabilities of our alarm systems and we provide high quality security services, for the benefit of the client,” said Andy Sofroniou, CEO of Handy’s Security Systems. The new service costs EUR 179 a year plus VAT, with an early-bird reduced rate until January 4 of EUR 142 plus VAT. For information call 77778787.
Cost falls for new residential buildings in Greece The construction cost for new residential buildings in Greece in the third quarter saw a decrease of 3.1%, compared with the same quarter last year, according to ELSTAT data. The previous year, the index had recorded a decrease of 3.3%. The quarter-on-quarter prices recorded a decrease of 0.4%, while last year the 12-month average index had also recorded a decrease of 3%. Material costs in construction in September saw a year-on-year fall of 1.9%, while the material costs index saw a month-on-month decrease of 0.2%. The average costs for the 12-month period from October 2014 to September 2015, compared with the same index for the previous 12-month period, decreased by 2.0%.
Russia’s weakening economy may increase mortgage arrears Houses are losing value in dollar terms, says Moody’s report If a further drop in oil prices exerts downward pressure on Russia’s weakened economy, arrears in structured mortgage deals could accelerate at a faster rate, according to Moody’s Investors Service. “Russian property values are decreasing significantly in US dollar terms due to the rouble’s devaluation. This will increase the loss severity on defaulting loans denominated in foreign currencies. On the other hand, losses will be more contained for rouble-denominated mortgage loans, owing to low loan-to-value ratios in loan portfolios and stable nominal house prices in rouble terms,” said Maria Divid, an analyst at Moody’s and coauthor of the report. “The low proportion of US dollar-denominated mortgages alleviates the impact of the rouble’s depreciation on Russia’s housing market. Having said
that, macroeconomic pressure may cause borrowers’ real incomes to fall, unemployment may increase and borrowers’ ability to pay their debt will weaken, which may increase mortgage arrears”, explained Divid. Moody’s said the weak economy has pushed up arrears in deals backed by Russian mortgages (residential mortgage-backed securities; RMBS) and in other assetbacked securities (ABS). Delinquencies of 60 days and above increased by 10% or more in the first half of 2015 in about two-thirds of the outstanding RMBS transactions Moody’s rates (based on reported delinquency levels, which do not include repurchased loans). Moody’s rates 39 outstanding Russian RMBS and two Russian ABS deals. The rating agency’s research says that RMBS deals from less creditworthy originators that comprise loans denominated in US dollars are more
susceptible to performance pressure. Moody’s observes that deals from less creditworthy originators will suffer more, and the disparity in deal performance will become more pronounced. While Moody’s current expected loss assumptions capture default and loss projections, particularly weak performance from less creditworthyoriginators might prompt the rating agency to revisit its assumptions. “Our overall expected loss assumptions still reflect our expectations regarding defaults and losses in Russian mortgage deal portfolios. But for weaker originators, the worsening performance of the portfolios may impact our assumptions. However, most of the outstanding transactions have benefited from deleveraging that may offset the effect of an assumption increase,” concluded Divid.