Construction and civil engineering firm Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) has informed that Bank of India has invested Rs 150 crore in Lavasa Corporation Ltd (LAVASA), a subsidiary of HCC (Hindustan Construction Company Ltd) in the form of Convertible Debentures. 

Based on the above investment, the equity valuation of LAVASA gets reconfirmed at Rs 10000 crore. Earlier, Axis Bank Ltd had invested Rs 250 crore at the same valuation. 

Taipei - Taiwan's property market, hit hard in the last few months by the global downturn and a drastic domestic stock plunge, is likely to enter a recession from next year, property dealers and analysts said.

"Beginning next year, the property market here is likely to see obvious slowdown, which could last two to four years," said Chang Chin-oh, land economics professor at Taipei's National Chengchi University.

Stanley Su, senior researcher of Sinyi Real Estate Inc, a leading Taiwan property brokerage group stressed that even with the slowdown, its scale would be smaller in Taiwan than that in other countries.

Hong Kong - It is home to some of Asia's wealthiest and most successful people - a city where tycoons, celebrities and high-fliers live in sumptuous surroundings in some of the world's costliest properties.

A pad on Hong Kong's exclusive Peak will cost you in excess of 7,000 US dollars per square foot (75,000 US dollars per square metre) - more than in New York or London - and a down payment on a shoebox-sized studio flat will set you back as much as a town house in other world cities.

New Delhi - With the global credit crisis leading to the worst slowdown in the Indian real estate market in recent times, agents and developers are hoping the festive season surrounding Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, will drive away the gloom.

Coming at the end of October, Diwali will prove a crucial period for developers as many Indians consider it to be the start of the Hindu business year and an auspicious time to start new ventures, buy property and expensive consumer goods.

Beijing - As house sales and prices tumble in China amid heightened uncertainty brought by the global financial turmoil, millions of would-be first-time buyers are locked in a standoff with giant, government-backed property developers.

"Developers expect the government to save the market and loosen the control of property loans," said Zhou Fan, chairman of the Zuoyou Real Estate Consultancy, based in the southern city of Guangzhou.

"Consumers expect the government not to take measures and think prices are still too high," Zhou told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Many buyers are waiting for an expected fall in property prices, depriving the developers of the advance cash they need to fund some larger projects.

Bangkok - Having lived and learned from the 1997 crisis, South-East Asia's property markets have so far proved resilient to the US subprime crisis and knock-on financial meltdown but they are far from immune to the global mess.

"No one can get off scot free from what's happening because global liquidity has been reduced and also the feel-good factor has gone," said David Simister, chairman of real estate company CB Richard Ellis Thailand.

"It will certainly create a slowdown and a market where for the next 18 months it's a bad time to be selling something but I don't see a situation where there will be a big slide in prices here," he added.