S’pore among most active commercial real estate investors: DTZ study

Singapore is among the most active regional investors in the Asia Pacific region when it comes to cross border commercial real estate investments.

Property consultant DTZ Research said investors from Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia spent a total of US$1.8 billion in the second quarter.

The money targeted predominantly the markets in China, Singapore and Hong Kong.

But the volume of commercial real estate investments transacted in Asia Pacific fell 49 per cent on-quarter to US$21.5 billion in the second quarter this year.

DTZ said the tighter policy measures in China implemented by the government targeting mainly the residential sector had a knock on effect on commercial property activity.

This led to a sharp fall in land sales for mixed-use developments.

Despite the decline in sales volumes, China remains the most liquid market in Asia Pacific.

But its market share decreased during the quarter from 62 per cent to 47 per cent in favour of Singapore, Australia and Taiwan

Investment transactions in Singapore and Hong Kong in the second quarter also recorded a moderate decline of 15 per cent from the previous three months.

Source: Channel News Asia, 14 Jul 2010