21 May 2026

• China’s new home prices recorded their slowest monthly decline in a year during the past month, supported by improving prices in major cities such as Shanghai and Shenzhen.
• Tier-one cities saw marginal price growth, while smaller tier-two and tier-three cities continued to face falling prices, unsold inventory and weak housing demand.
• Analysts said the property market has still not fully stabilised and may take another one to two years to witness a broader recovery due to oversupply concerns.
• Property investment in China continued to decline sharply, while household loans, including mortgages, contracted significantly, reflecting weak buyer confidence.
• Chinese authorities have introduced buyer incentives and state-backed housing purchase programmes to reduce inventory and support the real estate sector.Read more

21 May 2026

• National Real Estate Company KPSC reported a first-quarter net loss attributable to shareholders of 53.8 million dinars.
• The company posted total operating revenue of 811,568 dinars during the quarter.
• National Real Estate said the higher loss was mainly due to losses from its share of results during the reporting period.
• The company operates across real estate development, investment, hospitality, and property management businesses.
• The results come amid continued pressure on parts of the Gulf real estate and investment market.Read more

20 May 2026

• Digital Realty has opened its first data center in Barcelona, expanding its presence across the Mediterranean region.
• The new facility will have a planned capacity of 14 MW to support growing digital infrastructure demand.
• The Barcelona data center is expected to cater to rising requirements for cloud computing, AI workloads, and data storage services across Southern Europe.
• Barcelona is emerging as an important connectivity hub due to its subsea cable links and improving digital ecosystem.
• The expansion strengthens Digital Realty’s European network strategy as demand for large-scale data centers continues to rise globally.Read more

20 May 2026

Industry leaders from the retail, logistics, FMCG and commerce sectors across the Asia Pacific region are set to gather in Bangkok later this week for the 2026 APAC edition of the ‘Last Mile Leaders’ summit. The two-day event will focus on key challenges and changing trends in the logistics and delivery ecosystem, especially in the last-mile segment. Senior executives from companies including Electrolux, Metcash, JB Hi-Fi, CEVA Logistics, Thailand Post and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners are expected to participate. Organiser FarEye said the summit will also see the launch of a research report examining technology adoption, AI integration and infrastructure developments in last-mile delivery operations across the region.Read more

20 May 2026

Umm Al Qura for Development and Construction, the developer behind the Masar destination project in Makkah, has signed a reservation agreement to sell a plot of land within the development to Heyazah Osool Al-Hejaz Development Company. The transaction, valued at SAR 210.8 million, is aimed at developing hospitality units within the large-scale mixed-use destination. The deal reflects continued investment activity in hospitality-led real estate projects in Saudi Arabia, particularly around Makkah, where demand for accommodation infrastructure has remained strong due to religious tourism and ongoing urban development initiatives.Read more

20 May 2026

Residential asking prices in the UK recorded a stronger-than-usual rise in May, according to property portal Rightmove, even as global uncertainty linked to the Iran conflict continued to affect sentiment. Average asking prices increased 1.2% month-on-month, above the typical seasonal rise seen during this period. Mortgage rates also eased slightly, offering some relief to buyers. However, annual price growth remained negative, while sales activity stayed mixed. The number of homes available for sale continued to remain at its highest level in more than a decade, indicating that supply in the market is still elevated.Read more

20 May 2026

• Australia’s Labor government is facing voter backlash after proposing major changes to property investment taxes in its latest budget.
• The reforms include limiting capital gains tax discounts and negative gearing benefits to address housing affordability and intergenerational inequality.
• Recent polls showed many voters believe the measures could negatively impact the economy, with strong opposition coming from older Australians, homeowners and property investors.
• Despite criticism over breaking earlier election promises on housing taxes, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese remained the preferred leader in one of the surveys.
• Support for the far-right One Nation party increased following the budget announcement, while younger Australians and renters were comparatively less critical of the proposed reforms.Read more

20 May 2026

Abu Dhabi-based Modon Holding has partnered with Montage Hotels & Resorts to launch an ultra-luxury hospitality and branded residences project at Ras El Hekma on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast. The development, named Montage Ras El Hekma, will mark the hospitality group’s entry into the Egyptian market and introduce branded residences for buyers in the fast-growing coastal destination. The project comes as Ras El Hekma continues to attract major regional and international investments following large-scale tourism and infrastructure development plans announced over the past year.Read more

20 May 2026

• Argentum AI has signed a USD 2.5 billion agreement with cloud gaming company Boosteroid and real estate firm DL Invest Group for the development of a 300-megawatt data centre project in Europe.
• The project will involve deployment of large-scale GPU infrastructure, including future integration of next-generation systems from NVIDIA.
• The companies stated that the project is expected to become one of the largest independently developed AI infrastructure initiatives in the European market.
• The agreement reflects growing global demand for AI compute infrastructure amid increasing investment in hyperscale data centres and cloud-based artificial intelligence systems.
• Argentum AI said it is currently engaging with financial institutions and investment banks to arrange large-scale funding support for future AI infrastructure deployment projects.Read more

20 May 2026

The Bank of Spain has said it is carefully evaluating possible restrictions on mortgage lending to strengthen financial stability without worsening pressure in the country’s rental housing market. In its latest financial stability review, the central bank warned that tighter lending norms could shift more people from homeownership to renting, potentially increasing rents further in a market already facing a major housing shortage. While home prices and mortgage lending continue to rise, the regulator said current data does not indicate signs of a real estate bubble similar to the one that led to Spain’s housing crash and banking crisis in 2008.Read more