Singapore Emerged As 2nd Top City For Overseas Property Investments
SINGAPORE – The city-state emerged as the 2nd most preferred market for cross-border property investments this year among investors based in the region, according to CBRE’s 2021 Asia Pacific Investor Intentions Survey that was published on Wednesday (20 January).
The latest survey saw higher investor interest in Singapore, which is still a vital hub for overseas businesses looking to venture into Southeast Asia, said the property consultancy in its report.
“Although CBD office rents declined in 2020, rents are forecasted to register growth over the next three years, supported by low vacancy and strong demand. The city-state remains an important hub for foreign corporations looking to access Southeast Asia and is also emerging as a viable alternative to Hong Kong SAR among companies establishing Asia Pacific headquarters.”
Meanwhile, Tokyo retained the top position, while Seoul, Shanghai, and Vietnam were ranked from 3rd to 5th in the same order. Claiming the 6th spot is Beijing, followed by fellow Chinese city Shenzhen. Completing the top 10 are Sydney, Osaka, and Melbourne in the same order.
Interestingly, Hong Kong secured the 8th place in the 2020 edition of the survey, but in the latest poll, it was nowhere in the top rankings.
“While Hong Kong fell out of the top ten, selected foreign buyers increasingly view the city as an opportunistic play following a recent price correction,” noted the real estate consultancy.
The survey was conducted from 9 November 2020 and 14 December 2020. It involved 492 mainly Asia Pacific-based investors, who were queried regarding their property buying appetite and preferred strategies.
On strategies and property segments, investors clearly prefer core and opportunistic/distressed assets. For the first time since the poll started, logistics emerged as the most appealing sector, followed by office space. Data centres are still the most sought-after alternative asset class, while cold storage surpassed debt.
“Reflecting the broad-based improvement in market sentiment, this year’s survey found that 60 percent of investors intend to purchase more real estate in 2021, the highest level since 2016,” noted CBRE.
The start of COVID-19 vaccination across several countries around the globe has further uplifted market confidence. Coupled with the higher number of available properties due to divestments by developers and property funds, CBRE expects investment volume in the region to increase by 5 percent to 10 percent on an annual basis in 2021.
