Thought Leadership

The Inclusive Cities Barometer evaluates the inclusiveness of 44 EMEA cities and 35 APAC cities, based on just under 9,000 data points, 110 metrics across 4 dimensions and 12 subdimensions.

The cities represented in the Barometer are at varying stages of their journey towards more inclusive and vibrant urban environments. Instead of ranking cities by performance, our Barometer measures their progress relative to these starting points, highlighting exemplary successes and providing actionable roadmap for improvement.

Through the Inclusive Cities Barometer, we aim to guide and inspire real estate industry stakeholders towards creating more inclusive and socially sustainable urban environments. Access the hub to find out:

• What is urban inclusion and how we can quantify it
• How your city is performing
• The pathways to inclusive cities
• The role of real estate in driving social value in the built environment
• How to drive social value across the real estate lifecycle

CBRE’s latest leasing market sentiment index reveals that leasing sentiment in most major Asia Pacific markets cooled but stayed in positive territory:

• The lower level of tenant enquiries and site visits was mainly contributed by the mainland China office sector. Other markets, particularly India and Japan, continue to record robust enquiries from the retail sector.
• While expansionary retail demand is supporting market activity, office space demand has softened since the previous survey. Demand for flexible office space weakened, especially in Australia and Southeast Asian markets.
• Following the trend witnessed in the previous quarter, half of respondents anticipate rents and incentives to remain unchanged. Respondents in Japan held the most positive views regarding the office and retail rental outlook, while those in Greater China expected further declines in office rents.
• Mainland China and Hong Kong SAR remain laggards in leasing sentiment, with around 40% of respondents in the former currently engaged in “stay vs go” analysis or renewal exercises, indicating low intentions to expand.

With the Asia Pacific commercial real estate market sitting at the top of the interest rate hike cycle, attention continues to focus upon the sizable volume of outstanding senior loans due to mature; a situation which could lead to a substantial funding gap in the coming years.

CBRE estimates that there is US$257 billion of outstanding senior commercial real estate debt in Asia Pacific, leading to a projected funding gap of US$8.4 billion between 2024-2026.

CBRE expects a funding gap to arise in markets where there is still some degree of capital value decline expected over the next three years. By total volume, Australia will have the biggest funding gap (US$4.6 bln) between 2024-26, followed by mainland China (US$2.9 bln).

The gap will be highly concentrated in the office sector, with CBRE expecting some further repricing over the remainder of 2024.

This report explores the commercial real estate debt market in Asia Pacific and the factors underpinning the debt funding gap in the region, including the markets and sectors that are likely to face the biggest gap, and implications for investors.

This report was originally published in https://www.cbre.com/insights/reports/the-debt-funding-gap-for-asia-pacific-real-estate/

The Real Estate Sentiment Index is developed jointly by Knight Frank India and the National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO). The objective is to capture the perceptions and expectations of industry players to gauge the sentiment of the real estate market.

The Sentiment Index Q1 2024 highlights a decadal high, indicating heightened market confidence in real estate’s supply side, fueled by India’s strong economic landscape.

CBRE’s Asia Pacific view on the Global Tech Talent Guidebook explores:

• The appeal of Asia Pacific for hiring tech talent;
• Key considerations for companies seeking to identify markets in Asia Pacific for tech talent; and
• Approaches to talent attraction and location that companies are adopting in Asia Pacific and how this is shaping their real estate strategies.

This report was originally published in https://www.cbre.com/insights/viewpoints/global-tech-talent-guidebook-2024-asia-pacific-view

Singapore is one of the few APAC markets with a full ‘end-to-end’ life sciences value chain that comprises manufacturing, R&D, sales & logistics. Bolstered by supportive government policies, biomedical manufacturing has been the fastest growing among various manufacturing sectors. Strong venture capital funding and a vibrant life sciences startup ecosystem has also accelerated R&D, which has led to stronger demand for labs and expansion of manufacturing production capacity.

To date, Singapore has cultivated life sciences growth through a network of vibrant and strategically located clusters, such as Biopolis, Singapore Science Park, Tuas Biomedical Park and Kallang, giving occupiers a wide variety of options.

Although life sciences properties ranked top among preferred alternative assets for investment, such investible stock remains limited in Singapore. This paper highlights various key strategies in which investors can access the growth of this sector.

This report was originally published in https://www.cbre.com.sg/insights/reports/life-sciences-real-estate-an-emerging-asset-class-in-singapore

Fractional ownership is a co-ownership framework wherein the retail investor can invest in smaller fractions of the property with relatively smaller amounts.

With Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) formulating detailed guidelines for Small and Medium REITs (SM-REITs), a large number of erstwhile unregistered Fractional Ownership Platforms (FOPs) for real estate assets are expected to get listed as SM REITs. This will effectively have the potential to regularize underlying real estate assets to the tune of over INR 40 billion in the near to midterm.

Key highlights of the report include:

• In the office market, strata sale form of fractional ownership constitute 28% of total Grade A stock with over 200 mn sq ft of Grade A strata sale stock across the top six cities.
• Strata sale office stock in top six cities in India will swell to 260-270 mn sq ft in next two years, with an estimated market value of around INR 4,500 bn.
• A well-regulated market of fractional ownership will attract investors across various asset classes and diversify in alternative asset classes like industrial & warehousing, data centres, retail etc.

Business leaders are currently dealing with the crucial question – how can they effectively optimise resources, maximise savings and drive growth as they navigate a dynamic business landscape in 2024. Their challenges remain compounded by unprecedented inflation, fierce competition for talent, and the rising pressures of digitalisation and climate action.

Amid this scenario, offices today, albeit with much higher workforce flexibility, remain the epicentre of the work culture, with relocation decisions being underpinned by talent strategy and ESG goals. In Asia Pacific, a much greater pull to the office is creating higher occupancy than witnessed in other markets globally – causing the continued upward pressure on office rentals across the region.

In this edition of our Expert Insights | Asia Pacific Office Markets April 2024, we highlight six priorities to achieve cost savings in office real estate. We also present the Colliers Q1 2024 Office Market Research Reports from key Asia Pacific markets, unearthing actionable insights for real estate leaders.

Key Takeaways

• The data center market grew to new highs in 2023, with over 30GW encompassed in this report, including a more complete coverage of both colocation and hyperscale self-build inventory over last year’s edition.
• Power became a paramount concern, with the increasingly limited availability of large blocks of power across major markets.
• These power limitations have pushed data center operators to further evaluate untapped and smaller markets worldwide.
• Artificial intelligence proves to substantially grow demand worldwide, altering both site selection strategy and data center design.
• Despite challenges with power availability, larger markets have maintained momentum with their pipelines, through growing outlying submarkets

CBRE’s survey of more than 120 retail leasing market professionals in Asia Pacific reveals that retailers’ expansionary demand remains strong as they seek to revitalise their store networks post-pandemic.

Key findings include:

• 76% of retail brokers reported leasing enquiries for new setups, expansion and upgrading, indicating appetite for more space.
• More than two-thirds reported an increase in leasing enquiries and site inspections in Q1 2024, indicating that regional leasing activity is likely to remain strong in the coming months.
• As vacancy in prime areas contracts further, half of the respondents – the highest proportion since 2023 – expressed the view that retail leasing market dynamics are shifting in favour of landlords.
• Positive retail leasing sentiment across all Asia Pacific markets, with the strongest improvement observed in Japan.
• Retailers across Asia Pacific are displaying a very strong preference for prime core retail space.
• Most retailers plan to retain or increase their real estate budget and store footprint in 2024.
• Amid a global shift in consumer spending towards eating out and experiences, F&B remains the most active retail trade in Asia Pacific, with demand the strongest in Singapore and Southeast Asia.

This report was originally published in https://www.cbre.com/insights/briefs/asia-pacific-retail-leasing-sentiment-survey