According to Jones Lang LaSalle ^[1], Shanghai is still a real estate hotspot for overseas institutional investors but not individuals. US$20.3 million was dished out on a high-end office block – Ocean Towers ^[2] in downtown Shanghai. 16 other properties worth US$1 billion have been snapped up by foreign investors in the last 3 quarters. Read more about the deals here ^[3].

For those keen on investing in Dubai and the middle east, the 3rd edition of the International Property Show will be held in April 2007 at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre ^[4] with exhibitors from UK, Germany, South Africa, India, Spain, Turkey, Bahrain, France, Malaysia as well as the UAE. In our opinion, its a good networking event to meet both high networth Middle-Eastern investors and developers alike.

On a scarier note an article from Bloomberg ^[5] paints a gloomy picture of the London’s high end property market with predictions by Knight Frank of a drop of up to 50 per cent in price gains in 2007 as compared to 2006.

“The price of homes in London costing over 5 million pounds ($9.4 million) will gain 12 percent in 2007 compared with 25 percent this year, London-based Knight Frank said in an e-mailed report published today. U.K. prices will rise 6 percent next year, down from 9 percent in 2006, said Knight Frank.”