WRAPUP 1-China IPOs keep churning; Longfor raises $912 mln

* Longfor Properties prices near top of IPO range - sources

* George Soros, CIC, GIC among investors - source

* Timetable set for Resourcehouse's $3 bln HK IPO -source

* Minsheng's retail portion opens tomorrow

* LVS press briefing on Sunday; Wilmar axes HK IPO plan

By Michael Flaherty and Kennix Chim

HONG KONG, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Strong demand for a piece of a Chinese property company and a mainland brokerage show that selected IPOs are still being coveted despite investor fatigue with the surge of new listings.

Chinese property developer Longfor Properties Co raised $912 million on Thursday, pricing its Hong Kong initial public offering at the top end of an indicated range, according to two sources close to the deal.

Billionaire investor George Soros bought HK$200 million ($25.8 million) worth of shares, while the $293 billion sovereign fund China Investment Corp (CIC) also invested through the international tranche, another source said.

Asia has emerged as the world's top spot for companies tapping markets for funds this year as the region's economies inch out of recession, though the abundant supply is also keeping high price expectations in check. [ID:nSP284830]

Longfor sold 1 billion shares, or 20 percent of its enlarged share capital, at HK$7.07 each, compared with an indicative range of HK$6.06 to HK$7.10, according to the sources.

The pricing near the top end of the range indicates that there is still demand for Chinese property IPOs despite a glut of offerings in the last few months.

Separately, China Merchants Securities Co, which plans to raise up to 11.1 billion yuan through an initial public share offer in Shanghai, said on Thursday its IPO has been nearly 94 times subscribed.

The medium-sized brokerage said in an exchange filing on Thursday that it plans to sell 358.55 million shares at 31 yuan apiece, the top end of an indicated price range, in China's third brokerage IPO.

Longfor's offering price range represented a multiple of about 12 to 14 times forecast 2010 earnings. By comparison, peer R&F (2777.HK) trades at 11 times 2010 forecast earnings, while Greentown China (3900.HK) trades at 9.9 times forecast 2010 earnings.

The deal has attracted about $10 billion worth of orders, or about 12 times the number of shares earmarked for institutional investors, in which more than half are long-term funds and hedge funds, another source close to the deal said.