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Sunday, April 6, 2008

Asia Real Estate (Part II)


Rent and value
Capital flows to the Asian region have increased tremendously since 2005, mainly into major economic sectors such as manufacturing, services and oil and gas, and opportunities remain abundant in the property sector.The US is among the largest sources of investment inflows into the region; nevertheless, the largest increases in the availability of capital for real estate are expected to come from the Middle East, China and India. The main sources of capital for property investments in 2007 and 2008 remain private equity investment funds, institutional investors and real estate investment trusts (REITs).Since 2006, the Asia region has experienced strong demand in the residential sector despite high interest rates that led to higher house prices. In mainland China and Hong Kong, strong economic growth continues to support the residential market. Beijing and Shanghai continued to attract high levels of foreign investment that entailed a higher number of expatriate professionals which led to higher demand for luxury residential property.Residential real estate prices have shot up particularly in Singapore. Singapore’s residential price change in 4Q07 stood at 31.4%. Concurrently, Malaysia witnessed stable prices and rentals for 1H07. Strong demand for high-end residential units in prime cities such as Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore has escalated with the launch of new high-end residential units throughout 2007.The most expensive residential segments in Asia continue to be Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore at over US$10,000 per sq m.In Hong Kong, the real estate scene has not been very different from other countries in the region with house prices trending higher at 8.78% y-o-y in 2Q07 compared to 0.65% negative growth in 2Q06. The real estate market has been gradually recovering since the country’s downturn in the property market last year, following the housing slump in the US.


(The Star 5-4-2008)