Daily Briefing: Two charged over Airbnb rentals; Bitcoin price rises 1,100% this year

And here are two REITs that delivered strong performances this quarter.

From AFP News via Yahoo! Finance:

Two men have been charged in Singapore with illegally renting out apartments on Airbnb, the first such prosecutions in the city-state under new rules, local media reported Wednesday.

Regulations introduced in May ban homeowners from leasing property for less than three months without approval from authorities, meaning many short-term rentals on Airbnb should be illegal.

Housing policy is tightly controlled in space-starved Singapore, where 80% of the population lives in public housing which is subsidised by the government.

Read more here.

From The Motley Fool:

First Real Estate Investment Trust (SGX: AW9U) is the first REIT on our list that has delivered commendable performance.

As a quick introduction, First REIT is a healthcare-focused real estate investment trust. It currently has a portfolio of 18 properties (14 in Indonesia, three in Singapore, and one in South Korea) that are mostly healthcare-related facilities. The REIT’s sponsor is Indonesia’s largest listed property company, PT Lippo Karawaci Tbk.

For the latest quarter, gross revenue increased 3.3% while net property income (NPI) improved 3.2% compared to the same period last year. With that, the distribution per unit (DPU) came in higher at 2.14 cents as compared to 2.11 cents in the same period last year. The performance was driven by the contribution from Siloam Hospitals Labuan Bajo.

Read more here.

From Forbes:

The price of Bitcoin has climbed past $12,000, reaching its latest record and pushing its year-to-date (YTD) gain to more than 1,100%.

After breaking through this milestone, the digital currency's price kept climbing, extending Bitcoin's gains.

The cryptocurrency had risen to as much as $12,273.54 at the time of report, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (BPI).

Read more here.