China Evergrande Group's liquidators have been appointed to identify and preserve the assets of founder Hui Ka Yan, the Hong Kong High Court said in a ruling on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Hui, once one of China's richest people, has not been seen in public since he was detained by Chinese authorities in 2023 and has not complied with a court order to disclose his assets in Hong Kong and overseas. Evergrande, the most high-profile casualty of China's prolonged property crisis, began defaulting on some of its bonds in 2021 and collapsed with more than $300 billion in liabilities.

The United States has officially lowered its tariff on Japanese automobiles to 15% from 27.5%, finally addressing some unfinished business that had added extra uncertainty to an already unpredictable and protracted trade war, the Japan Times reported. Japan and the United States first agreed to the reduced rate on July 22 as part of a broader deal in which "reciprocal" tariffs, which cover most other exports, were taken from 10% to 15% — but less than the 25% threatened. Reciprocal duties were formally raised to 15% on Aug. 7.

New Zealand home prices edged lower in August, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) said on Tuesday, as prospective buyers remained cautious despite aggressive interest rate cuts from the central bank to spur the economy, Reuters reported. Seasonally adjusted median house prices dipped 1.3% from July, and were 0.5% lower on the previous year, REINZ data showed. Seasonally adjusted national home sales fell 4.5% from July, but were up 0.6% from August 2024. "Across New Zealand, confidence in the property market is tempered with caution," REINZ Chief Executive Lizzy Ryley said.

Appellate tribunal NCLAT has upheld the decision of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to recall a previous ruling for an insolvency case against real estate firm Logix Infrastructure after finding the debt claim as "fraudulent" and "malicious," the Economic Times of India reported. A two-member NCLAT bench said the plea for CIRP (Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process) against Logix Infrastructure, which was developing the Blossom County project in Noida Sector 137, are based on collusion and are malicious with sufficient material.

Mining giant Vedanta has sought the Competition Commission of India’s approval for its proposal to acquire 100% in stressed infrastructure firm Jaiprakash Associates (JAL), the Economic Times of India reported. Vedanta has emerged as the highest bidder to acquire JAL under the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) with a net present deal value of Rs 12,505 crore, beating Adani Group’s offer. Under the insolvency law, the CCI’s clearance is a must before resolution plans by suitors are approved by the committee of creditors of the stressed company.

In a landmark ruling with wide-ranging implications for the real estate sector, the Supreme Court of India has drawn a clear distinction between speculative investors, whom it described as ‘slow poison’, and genuine homebuyers, the Hindustan Times reported. The court said that speculative investors should not be allowed to misuse the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code as a recovery tool to seek lucrative returns without any intention of owning a home. It observed that such investors harm the residential real estate sector and, by extension, the Indian middle class.

The Supreme Court of Korea ruled that a former husband’s act of providing his only real estate property as collateral to a creditor without paying his ex-wife’s property division settlement cannot be canceled if the creditor was unaware of his financial situation, the Chosunlibo reported. The Supreme Court’s Second Division (Presiding Justice Kwon Young-jun) overturned a lower court’s ruling in favor of the plaintiff, Lee, in her fraudulent conveyance cancellation lawsuit against A, and remanded the case to Uijeongbu District Court on the 14th.

China's new home prices fell again in August, extending a prolonged slump in prices as persistently weak demand in the pivotal housing sector remains a drag on economic growth. Prices slipped 0.3% in August from the previous month, according to Reuters calculation based on data released by the National Bureau of Statistics. The figure matched July's month-on-month decline and extended a weak trend that has persisted since May 2023. On an annual basis, new home prices dropped 2.5% in August, narrowing from a 2.8% decline in July. China's real estate sector entered a downturn in 2021.