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.

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.

U.S. Private Equity Firms Seek Bargains in Japanese REIT Market (Commercial Property News)
Japanese REITs, which have lost more than 50 percent of their value on the Tokyo Stock Exchange since their peak last year, are increasingly attracting the attention of U.S.-based private equity firms like Oaktree Capital Management, which has launched the first tender offer for a REIT in Japan.

APPLAUSE (The Fort Collins Coloradoan)
Debi Good has joined Realtec Fort Collins as an administrative assistant. She was involved in commercial property management before joining Realtec.

China PBOC Official: Agencies Discussing Plan For REIT Trial (Nasdaq)
BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- China's government agencies are discussing a plan to launch a trial for real estate investment trusts, a senior central bank official said Tuesday.

Tower REIT revalues 3 properties (Business Times (Malaysia))
TOWER Real Estate Investment Trust has revalued three properties under its stable namely Menara HLA, HP Towers and Menara ING. The revaluation exercise conducted by GLM REIT Management Sdn Bhd, manager of Tower REIT, was to ascertain the current market values of the three buildings.

2008: The year that wasn’t in commercial real estate (BizJournals)
In many ways, 2008 was the year that wasn’t in the Louisville commercial real estate market.

Check It Out (Israel National News)
(IsraelNN.com) French President Nicolas Sarkozy and other European officials met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Achmed Abu El-Reit Monday. In the meeting the parties discussed the possibility of brokering a cease fire between Egypt and Hamas.

Allied Properties Real Estate Investment Trust Announces Normal Course Issuer Bid (Marketwire via Yahoo! Finance)
Allied Properties REIT announced today that the Toronto Stock Exchange has accepted its notice of intention to conduct a normal course issuer Bid to enable it to purchase up to 3,003,667 of its 31,235,668 outstanding units, representing approximately 10% of the REIT's public float of 30,036,674 Units as of December 23, 2008, pursuant to TSX rules.