China to Introduce Real Estate Investment Trusts, Qi Says (Bloomberg)
Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- China’s central bank and bank regulator are formulating a plan to allow developers to raise funds through real estate investment trusts, or REITs, said the country’s vice housing minister.

Industrial park could create economic opportunities (Eastern Arizona Courier)
A proposed light-industrial park on Safford’s east side will allow the city to market itself across the United States and will create opportunities for local companies to expand, Safford Community and Economic Development Director Pete Stasiak said.

Projects responding to needs for new services (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
The concrete hardly has time to cure on one hospital-building project before the foundation is being poured for another. . Last summer, Bon Secours Richmond moved its Heart Institute into new medical-office space at Reynolds Crossing in western Henrico County. In October, VCU Health System opened a 15-floor Critical Care Hospital with mostly single-patient rooms on the congested downtown medical ...

St Albans law firm's optimism (St Albans & Harpenden Review)
A ST ALBANS law firm is defying the economic slump by appointing a new partner in commercial property, poached from a rival firm.

Vacancies in office buildings rise faster (Seattle Times)
Every major city in the U.S. is seeing office-building vacancies top 10 percent, creating another big problem for already hurting lenders.

BURSA MALAYSIA SCOREBOARD: JAN 05 (Bernama via Yahoo! Malaysia News)
BURSA MALAYSIA SCOREBOARD: JAN 05 . UP DOWN UNCHANGED TRADED CONSUMER 42 10 13 65 INDUSTRIALS 93 14 23 130 CONSTRUCTION 24 6 6 36 TRADING/SERVICES 91 22 21 134 TECHNOLOGY 11 3 2 16 FINANCE 32 4 6 42 HOTELS 4 0 0 4 PROPERTIES 56 14 5 75 PLANTATIONS 35 2 3 40 MINING 1 0 0 1 REITS 7 2 1 10 LOAN STOCK 5 1 2 8 P4CONDITION 0 0 0 0 SECOND BOARD 72 24 26 122 CLOSED/FUND 1 0 0 1 ETF 1 1 0 2 ...

Office Demand Is Down, and So Are the Deals (New York Times)
By most accounts, the commercial property market reached its pinnacle in early 2007 with the Blackstone Group ’s acquisition of Equity Office Properties Trust and its prized cache of more than 500 office buildings.