CapitaLand to buy 2 Guangzhou residential sites for 2.05b yuan

CAPITALAND has won its bid to acquire two prime residential sites in Guangzhou, China for 2.05 billion yuan (S$409.3 million), the property developer announced on Tuesday.

The two sites in the Zengcheng district occupy 150,000 square metres of land, and could allow the developer to build up to 1,300 homes by 2021 aimed at first-time homebuyers and upgraders, CapitaLand said.

Zengcheng, where prominent companies such as Foxconn and Honda have operations, is one of Guangzhou's fastest-growing districts and the site of the city's planned second international airport, the developer said.

The acquisition will be CapitaLand's second in under three months, following the June 2018 announcement that the group is buying a mix-use site in Chongqing that can yield more than 2,100 residential units.

"These 3,400 units in Guangzhou and Chongqing are a timely addition to our China residential pipeline, as we ready ourselves to release another 4,000 units for sale by the end of 2018," CapitaLand chief executive Lim Ming Yan said in a statement. "CapitaLand remains optimistic about the prospects of China's residential market, where strong housing sales have continually contributed to the group's earnings."

Mr Lim said that CapitaLand has already exceeded its full-year capital recycling target of S$3 billion in the first six months of 2018.