Capital Markets

Welcome to the inaugural APAC Investment Atlas, your strategic guide to commercial real estate investment across Asia Pacific. This report leverages Cushman & Wakefield’s proprietary TIME Score and Fair Value Index (FVI) to provide clarity on market cycles, pricing, and sector trends—empowering investors to make confident, data-driven decisions.

Market Overview: Resilience Amid Transition

Investor sentiment has improved, supported by recent rate cuts in several markets and liquid debt conditions. The near-term outlook remains mixed amid volatility, but activity and deal sizes have been rising.

TIME Score: Pinpointing the Cycle

The TIME Score (Timing the Investment Market Entry/Exit) is a forward-looking measure that helps investors identify where each market sits in the property cycle. With APAC’s all-property TIME Score trending upwards (currently 3.1), many markets are moving past stabilisation and into early growth phases. This signals a compelling window for strategic investment key markets including Australia, Singapore, and Japan.

The TIME Score distils multiple indicators into a single metric that reflects cycle stage (from downturn through inflection to recovery). It provides a practical framework to time market entry and exit across geographies and sectors.

Fair Value Index: Where Value Meets Strategy

The Fair Value Index (FVI) assesses the relative attractiveness of current pricing in prime office, retail, and industrial markets against long-term expected returns and risk-adjusted benchmarks. Across APAC, most tracked office and industrial markets are underpriced, offering attractive entry points. The APAC FVI stood at 62.5 in Q3 2025, up from 60.4 in Q1, with 46% of tracked markets underpriced and 63% of logistics & industrial markets underpriced. Australia’s logistics & industrial, Singapore’s prime office, and select retail assets stand out for relative value and forward growth prospects. 

The FVI compares current market pricing with modelled fair value to indicate where pricing dislocation creates opportunity. Higher FVI scores signal broader under-pricing (more compelling value), while lower scores indicates that more markets are fully priced.  

Strategic Themes

• Core & Core-Plus: Prime CBD offices in low-vacancy markets; modern logistics facilities in supply-constrained nodes.
• Value-Add: Reposition office stock with low ESG credentials; infill and upgrade in logistics; retail assets with positive rental reversions.
• Sector Sweet Spot: Logistics & Industrial continues to outperform on structural demand and constrained supply; selected repricing opportunities in office and retail assets.
• Cross-Border Capital: Growing interest from global investors into Asia Pacific, with increasing focus on platform-building in data centres, living, self-storage, and life sciences.

CBRE conducts the Asia Pacific Cap Rate Survey with our capital markets brokers and valuers every six months to obtain insights into current capital markets trends and sentiment along with the latest cap rate movements across individual markets and sectors. This report summarises the survey’s key findings.

Below are the key highlights:

• Commercial real estate investment got off to a strong start this year, rising 11% year-on-year to US$33 billion in Q1 2025 on the back of declining interest rates and asset repricing.
• Bifurcation in cap rates was observed across the region. Australia’s shopping malls experienced cap rate compression, while cap rates in Greater China continue to experience expansion pressure.
• In response to tariffs, some 60% of respondents expect investors to reassess the pace of purchasing activity. Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Singapore investors were extremely concerned about the impact of tariffs, while those in Korea, Australia, India, and Japan were somewhat concerned.
• Private (28%) and institutional (12%) investors continued to display the strongest buying intentions. Buying intentions for REITs and real estate funds strengthened from six months previously.
• Net buying intentions were highest in New Zealand (77%) and Australia (48%). Japan attracted the strongest interest from cross-border investors.
• Elevated yields / favourable pricing (63%), potential for rental uplift (44%) and healthy or improving occupancy/rent roll stability (36%) were named as the top three opportunities to improve investment returns.
• Interest in multifamily & build to rent increased significantly (44% vs. 34%) from six months ago, with Japan, Greater China and Australia the main markets of interest. Demand for neighbourhood shopping malls (24% vs. 12%) also picked up from the Q3 2024 survey.
• Data centres (63%) were the clear favourite among alternatives.

India’s capital markets continue to evolve, backed by strong macroeconomic fundamentals, policy reforms, and a resilient appetite from both domestic and global investors. The real estate sector remains a key focus, with heightened activity across income-generating and emerging asset classes. With stable demand, strategic capital deployment, and increasing institutional interest, FY25 is poised to be a defining year for the Indian investment landscape.

Key highlights of the report include:

India Market Overview

• Robust investment activity observed across core commercial office assets and the industrial & logistics sector.
• Emerging interest in data centres and alternative assets, driven by digitisation and rising demand for specialised infrastructure.
• Rising participation from global investors in large-scale platform deals and structured equity transactions.
• Continued interest in income-yielding assets and Grade A developments across top metros.

Capital Trends & Deal Activity

• Strategic partnerships between institutional investors and developers drive capital inflows.
• Notable transactions include deals in Mumbai, Bengaluru, NCR, and Hyderabad across office and warehousing sectors.
• Increased focus on structured transactions and forward purchase models.

Outlook

• Investor sentiment remains positive, underpinned by India’s growth trajectory and real estate sector resilience.
• Policy support and infrastructure development expected to further enhance market depth and transparency.
• India continues to attract long-term capital seeking stability, scale, and sustainable returns.

Asia Pacific’s growing influence on global capital markets is reshaping investment dynamics, positioning it as a prime source and a top destination for global cross-border capital. With stabilising economic fundamentals and sustained investment momentum, the region continues to strengthen its appeal among investors seeking growth and stability.

Key highlights of the report include:

Asia Pacific

• APAC is home to four out the top 10 capital sources worldwide – Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and China.
• Seven of the top 10 destinations for land and development sites globally located within Asia Pacific – China, Singapore, Australia, India, Malaysia, Vietnam and Japan.
• For standing assets globally, Asia Pacific remains a key player with Japan, Australia and China ranking among the top 10 destinations.
• The region has diverse investment appeal: Six sectors, led by office and industrial, saw US$183 billion in investment over the past 24 months.
• The office sector led the way with US $57billion, followed by industrial (US $55billion), retail (US $37billion), multifamily (US $17billion) and hospitality (US $15billion).
• Key source of global capital: Asia Pacific is home to four of the top 10 sources of capital – Singapore Hong Kong, Japan and China.
• Continued dominance as a global cross-border capital destination: With seven out of the top 10 destinations for land and development sites and three of the top 10 destinations for standing assets, the region is a magnet for cross-border capital.

Global

• Investment volumes increased in the final quarter of last year due to global interest rate cuts.
• Industrial is back to being the leading global sector of choice.
• Hospitality is the fastest-growing preferred asset class for global cross-border investors.

CBRE professionals in Asia Pacific note that investment activity in the region is strengthening as interest rate cuts commence.

Continued cap rate expansion is expected across most markets in Asia Pacific, with cap rates in Australia showing signs of peaking, and Japan remaining stable. Core assets are expected to exhibit greater resilience over the next six months.

Other key highlights from the survey include:

• Investor risk appetite has increased slightly, and buying intentions have improved across almost all markets and investor types.
• Core Grade A offices return to investors’ radar, with neighbourhood malls also generating more interest.
• Recovery of investment activity in certain markets pushed back to mid-2025.
• More acquisition opportunities to emerge amid a narrowing price gap between buyers and sellers in most sectors.