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Faced with lawsuits from angry buyers, the developers of Trump Soho in New York are offering partial refunds to buyers who agree not to join the legal actions.

Only buyers who have not closed their purchases will be eligible for refunds up to half their deposits, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The lawsuits accuse the developers of fraud and misrepresenting the project in sales pitches. Specifically, the developers consistently over-reported the number of sales in the much-discussed project, which was heavily marketing to international buyers, the suits allege.

Contacted by the WSJ, Donald Trump refused to comment. But he did say the prospect of converting the condo-hotel units into pure hotel rooms was appealing because “the hotel is doing so well." Trump has a licensing and management deal for the 46-story tower, which was developed by the Sapir Organization and Bayrock Group.

Hoping to clamp down on speculators, China this week imposed new restrictions on foreign ownership of property.

Under the toughened up rules, foreigners will only be able to own one property on the mainland. And non-Chinese companies will only be able to purchase commercial real estate for their own use, according to published reports.

Individual buyers will also have to show proof of employment in China for at least one year before they can buy residential property.

The government clearly hopes the measures will stop investors from gobbling up apartments and driving up prices. But analysts believe the measures ultimately have little impact. Foreign investments accounted for only 0.8 percent of property last year, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The next year will develop as the “era of less, the Twilight Zone” for commercial real estate in the United States, Urban Land Institute senior fellow Stephen Blank told a group in Philadelphia this week.

Blank was presenting the results of the institute’s latest Emerging Trends study, which surveyed 875 industry professionals. The research found industry professionals expecting “high single digit returns for core properties.” But with lenders stepping up foreclosure activity, valuation on many properties could “reset 30-40 percent below 2007 peaks.”

Despite government efforts to dampen the market, buyers are still gobbling up luxury properties in Hong Kong.

The number of transactions of more than HK$20 million ($2.6 million) was up 86 percent in the first seven months of 2010, according to Bloomberg News. Overall, prices have jumped 50 percent in the last year, even though the government has tried to restrict the market, in the wake of fears that the property bubble may soon burst.

After a dip in 2011, prices for houses in central London should jump by 33 percent by the end of 2015, Savills Research predicts.

While much of the U.K. will continue to struggle, “overseas wealth inflows and a strong private sector economy, particularly in the financial and business services sectors” will drive up London valuations, Savills says in its 2011 residential forecast.

The days when institutional buyers could swoop into Miami and gobble up hundreds of distressed condo units in one deal may be over.

“Bulk deals in Greater Downtown Miami are just about as extinct as the residential construction crane,” said Condo Vultures principal Peter Zalewski in a recent report.

According to the Bal Harbour-based consultancy, the last large scale deal was the transfer of 672 condo units in a project called Everglades on the Bay, which was essentially approved by a court on Oct. 27. Only 177 of the 849 units in the development were sold.

Demand for commercial property in Europe is growing, but it’s emerging markets leading the recovery, according to the latest survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Data points to a “two speed” recovery, the RICS says. Emerging Asia and Latin America led the way in the third quarter, in particular China, Hong Kong, Brazil and Singapore.

Donald Trump says he is no longer involved with a controversial Florida tower development which bore his name.

The Trump International Hotel & Tower planned for Ft. Lauderdale, billed as a “signature Trump development,” is in foreclosure. And more than 100 buyers are suing the developers and Trump, claiming the project promoters misrepresented Trump’s role.

But Trump says he only licensed his name to the project and severed his ties long ago.

The National Association of Realtors, one of the founding members of the International Consortium of Real Estate Associations, is resigning from the group, effective Dec. 31.

NAR members had “limited access to global tools through ICREA,” NAR senior vice president Janet Branton wrote this week in a widely-circulated e-mail. Instead of membership, NAR is proposing a “non-dues” sponsorship agreement with ICREA, which will be discussed at NAR’s national meeting later this week in New Orleans.

Although the overall Las Vegas market is still struggling, high-end homes continue to sell, a luxury specialist says.

The number of sales of homes priced at $1 million or above was down 14 percent from a year ago, but there was actually a 7 percent increase in sales of properties priced above $3 million, according to Luxury Homes of Las Vegas.

“September was a fairly solid month relative to current market conditions,” said owner Kenneth Lowman, who claims a 46 percent market share of sales of Las Vegas homes priced above $3 million. “The market remains challenging, but sales are happening.”

Lowman’s firm closed 19 sales in September, compared to 17 in the same month of 2009. There have been 101 sales of homes priced at more than $1 million in the first three quarters of 2010, with the most expensive a $7 million property in a development called The Ridges.

Reduced prices are helping drive luxury sales, Lowman said in a press release.

In September, bank owned sales represented about 10 percent of the luxury sales, a sharp contrast to the overall market. Bank-owned homes accounted for 42 percent of all existing local home sales in September, according to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.