Real estate transactions in Asia Pacific increased from the previous quarter, rising 19 percent quarter-on-quarter to $23.1 billion, said CBRE's preliminary Q2 figures.
In its Q2 2016 MarketView, the global property services firm said the increase was mainly driven by the closure of several large transactions, including the largest office transaction in Asia Pacific since 2001-the $2.5 billion acquisition of Asia Square Tower 1 in Singapore by the Qatar Investment Authority.
“The completion of several large transactions this quarter, in Singapore and Tokyo in particular, underlines the continued strong demand for prime core assets around the world, especially in the office sector, by institutional investors,” said Henry Chin, head of research, CBRE Asia Pacific.
Across the region, strong investment activity was recorded in Australia and China. China saw investment volume jump by 39 percent quarter-on-quarter as domestic investors continued to enjoy cheap funding. Offshore capital remained active in Australia with purchasing by foreign investors increasing 35 percent quarter-on-quarter to $2 billion.
However, excluding the quarter's noteworthy transactions, CBRE's figures reveal that overall investment turnover was stable across the Asia Pacific region.
“In China, investment activity was more dominated by domestic investors-accounting for over 90 percent of total turnover-as international investors turned more cautious due to further depreciation of the RMB,” said Chin.
“Similarly in Japan, coupled with a lack of investible stock, international investors turned more risk averse due to the weaker-than-expected economy and stronger yen.”
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