Buy-to-let market healthy - 2003-08-04
The UK's property rental market has continued to expand thanks to strong investment in the buy-to-let market and a more European attitude to renting, according to the lender UCB Home Loans.

UCB's report cites figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showing the value of buy-to-let lending totalled £6.7bn in the last six months of 2002, compared with £5.5bn in the first half of 2002 and £4.1bn in the second half of 2001.
Read the full story at BBC

HK will increase mortgage limit to boost apartment market - 2003-08-04
Hong Kong, where real estate prices have dropped two-thirds since their 1997 peak, may permit apartment buyers to take out bigger mortgages to boost the sagging market.

The city may raise the limit on mortgages on resale apartments from the current 70 percent as part of measures to be announced in October, the < While the plan may make it easier for people to buy homes, it won't be successful unless consumer confidence also improves, some investors said.
Read the full story at Taipei Times Online