The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate jumbo mortgages decreased to 4.14 percent from 4.18 percent. Read full report. [Mortgage Bankers Association] The China-based Wanda Group is altering plans for its $1 billion residential development project situated on prime Beverly Hills property. The project, originally conceived as a luxury condo complex, will reduce the number of condos to include the addition of a high-end hotel. [The Los Angeles Times] Brokers in South Florida are bracing for a potential slowdown as they see prices peaking and the buyer pool shrinking. [Miami Herald] A study by KPMG and the University of Sydney’s China Studies Centre finds that Australia-minded Chinese investors are shifting their focus to the fringe suburbs of Sydney and regional New South Wales as a means of finding better returns. [The Daily Telegraph] Activists in San Francisco’s Mission District are moving to get a moratorium on the development of market-rate apartment and condominiums placed on the November ballot. [San Francisco Business Journal] Chinese Consul-General Liu Fei, the country’s top envoy to Vancouver, says that the city’s lack of regulation, not foreign buyers, is to blame for rising home prices. [The Globe and Mail]
RELATED: Vancouver’s International Appeal Indonesian Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro is considering proposals allowing foreigners to own luxury property in Indonesia. The current proposals under study would allow foreigners to purchase residential apartments worth at least IDR 5 billion (approximately US $375,940) in Indonesia’s larger cities. Foreign buyers would be banned from purchasing landed houses and would still be subject to the existing luxury sales tax. [Indonesia Investments] Europe’s top property owners are ramping up efforts to court Asian investors for trophy properties, fueled by the latter’s strong spending spree on such real estate over the past few years. [South China Morning Post] There are aquatic amenities, and then there are aquatic amenities. A 16,140-square-foot Tuscan-style estate in Boca Raton with a private lake, which includes a private island, is listing for $19.995 million. [The Real Deal]More: Tips for Americans Buying in Tuscany Inman offers a three-step guide for U.S. brokers looking to work with Chinese home buyers. [Inman] The Caribbean Journal profiles the best small islands to retire to. [The Caribbean Journal] John Addis of the Sydney Morning Herald claims to have proof that Sydney and Melbourne are in a housing bubble. [Sydney Morning Herald] Muskoka, the Canadian Hamptons, is the second-fastest growing recreational real estate market behind Cote d’Azur, France, according to Christie’s International Real Estate. [Bloomberg]
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