According to real estate market study prepared by Savills, Moscow was in second place among world's 10 largest cities with the house price growth during the first semester of 2012. This year undisputed leader in the growth of house prices is Hong Kong with 7.4 percent growth. Mainstream residential prices are at record levels due to strong local demand. Despite this the easing of mortgage availability also has helped to underpin the market. On the second and third places were Moscow and Sydney with 5.5 and 3.7 percent growth respectively. As analysts stated, this three cities were ahead of a modest average index for all 10 cities, which is only 1.2 percent. The cities that have seen residential markets have been beyond by domestic demand (Hong Kong, Moscow and Sydney) rather than international; buyers and investors. Meanwhile, international capital appears to be retreating to the "core" of established world cities due to their long-term investment credentials - namely London and New York (house price growth was 2.8 and 1.1 percent respectively). Some "new world" cities that had begun to see price falls following specific government intervention, or the impact of a slowing global economy, rebounded in H1 2012 (Hong Kong 7.4 percent). The weight of Chinese money continues to push into this city, but most of this growth can be attributed to a strengthening local market, aided by increased bank lending. At the other end of spectrum, some "old world cities" that had previously appealed, because of their safe haven credentials saw prices falls at the beginning of 2012, notably Paris (-3.4 percent). Here the Eurozone crisis, coupled with president Hollande's proposed taxes on the wealthy, weighed on the upper tiers of the Parisian residential market. In London, some prime market activity and price growth slowed in the wake of uncertainty regarding new stamp duty rules that were announces in the March budget. This year Shanghai saw price falls in the wake of an allowing domestic economy and ongoing cooling measures (-2.6 percent). The first price falls have also been recorded in the previously red-hot Mumbai market (-1.7 percent).

Turkey's Teknopark Istanbul, a hub of research and development efforts similar to the Silicon Valley but for the country's defense and related industries, will be completed in 8-10 years, reported the Hurrietdaily. After construction it will generate nearly US$ 10 billion for Turkey's economy annually. Teknopark Istanbul will operate a 750 thousand square meter indoor space at Sabiha Gokcen Airport, east of Istanbul, accommodating more than 30 thousand people and targeting US$ 10 billion in defense and nondefense business annually, to become one of Europe's largest technology parks. The site will bring together companies and many universities in Istanbul, targeting strategic fields like aviation, maritime, electronics, information technology, nanotechnology, energy and automotive, biotechnologies, automation systems and robot technologies. Its major shareholders are the Under secretariat for Defense Industries (SSM), with a 45 percent stake, and the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (?TO), with a 40 percent stake. Construction work began late last year, when Science, Industry and Technology Minister Nihat Ergun and SSM chief Murad Bayar laid its foundation. Currently there are 37 teknoparks in Turkey, which include 1200 companies.

Although there is still no official word on when construction will start on Kingdom Tower, there are signs of progress. Saudi BAUER Foundation Contractors Ltd. This week announced it had signed a deal for the enabling works for Kingdom, the one-kilometer-tall tower planned for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. "The enabling works include 270 bored piles of 1.5 and 1.8 meter diameters, which have to be installed into the difficult ground conditions down to depths of 110 meters in order to provide the building's foundations," the company said in a press release. Bauer also did the piling work for Burj Khalifa, currently the world's tallest building. The foundation work on Kingdom is scheduled to begin before the end of December and take about 10 months, the company said. The contract for the work is worth approximately US$ 32 million, the company said. Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has given the go ahead for the construction of the world's tallest tower in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah by signing a US$ 1.2 billion contract with Bin Laden Group on August 2, 2011. On January 2012, local mass media reported, that Azerbaijan plans to build the world's tallest tower within the framework of Caspian Island project. Initially, the height of Azerbaijan Tower planned to be 560 meters, but parameters were changed. The developer of Caspian Island Avesta concern decided that the high of 185 floors tower to be 1050 meters, and it will be commissioned in 2018-2019. In this August Chinese Broad Sustainable Building Company made sensational announcement, that Changsha, China's Hunan province will be home to world's tallest building , which will be built in just 7 months. 220-store building will be 838 meters high. It is also reported, that construction will begin in this November.

The construction work of president Saakashvili's favorite project "Lazika city" has officially been launched. According to Georgiatoday, on September 27 Saakashvili opened the city's first building, an administrative center, which will serve for port and city administrations. During the ceremony Saakashvili spoke about the economic development of the area, stating that foreign investors will come and invest in the construction of Lazika. Georgian president also added that Lazika will be the largest city in the Black Sea coast of the country. Lazika project located south to Anaklia, a sea resort right to the south of breakaway Abkhazia and north of Kulevi. Currently, Batumi and Poti ports can only accommodate maximum 250 containers. It is expected that Lazika port will receive its first freighters in autumn 2014. Saakashvili unveiled the project last year. Ten years from now, President Mikheil Saakashvili said, Lazika will be Georgia's second-largest city after Tbilisi, which has a population of about 1.5 million, and a leading Black Sea trading hub. The government of Georgia has already been in talks with several large investment groups in Asia and Europe to attract interest from investors. ? Much criticism has been voiced regarding to the project, with many of them also pointing out the potential to harm the flora and fauna of the Kolkheti National Park, which lies adjacent to the selected area.? According to Commersant, if "Georgian Dream" coalition comes into power, it is not going to continue to build Lazika. The construction of the new city is planned between Anaklia and Kulevi. Kolkheti National Park is located in this territory. Caucasus Environmental Network announces that the construction of the new city will be a threat to Kolkheti National Park. Besides, negotiations regarding construction of hotels in Lazika are being held with several groups of investors. P.S. During the parliamentary elections of Georgia on October 1, 2012, won "Bidzina Ivanishvili's - Georgian Dream" which collected 55.08% of elector's voices.

Samvel Karapetyan's Tashir Group may invest US$ 50 million in the construction of shopping malls and exhibition centers in Sochi sea passenger port, reported the "Kommersant". One of city's businessmen said to publication, that the developer is planning to build a shopping gallery, which will house luxury-brand boutiques. And the company representative Marina Gaze confirmed that recently the group has become a co-investor of Sochi port reconstruction project. As she stated, Tashir Group received 2.3 hectares of land for long-term lease. As part of reconstruction project the company intends to build more than 25 thousand square meters of real estate. Boutique galleries will occupy about 7.5 thousand square meters, a multifunctional complex with retail and office space - 6.7 thousand square meters and the exhibition center will occupy 11.5 thousand square meters. Tashir Group didn't disclose the amount of project investment, but experts estimated it about US$ 50 million. According to the publication, the construction financing will proceed from the sale of company's real estate in Moscow.