Thought Leadership

There were two major factors affecting the Asian real estate market in the past few years, namely COVID-19 pandemic and interest rate hikes.

COVID-19 is no longer considered a public health emergency of international concern while stable or slightly lower interest rates from the Federal Reserve in 2024 is anticipated by many Asian markets. This is expected to increase the appetite for property investment over the next 12-24 months.

Key highlights in the Report:

Office Sector

• Investors are seeking more stable revenue streams and longer-term capital gains in Asia markets.
• There is an oversupply of office space in Bangkok, Beijing, Jakarta and Shanghai; and it will take time for the market to absorb.
• Rental levels in Bangkok and Beijing are under pressure while office rent in Seoul is rising due to limited new supply.

Retail Sector

• High street and prime retail malls in different markets have faced challenges during the pandemic, with the exception of district retail centres offering daily necessities for the neighourhood.
• High inflation in many Asian markets has impacted overall consumption.

Industrial Sector

• There is an oversupply of industrial space in Beijing, Seoul and Shanghai, making the industrial sector in these markets buyer and occupier’s market.
• Jakarta is expected to have a steady performance in the industrial sector driven by the electronic automotive industry.
• Bengaluru, Hong Kong and Mumbai have stable demand for logistics, warehouses and data centres.

This report was originally published in https://www.colliers.com/en-xa/research/2019-to-2023-apac-cap-rates-report

The Wealth Report’s unique data, expert insights, thought-provoking interviews and future views help shed light on the key issues affecting how you live, work, invest and give back.

In brief:

• Private capital is critical for real estate investment, representing a record 49% of all commercial transactions in 2023.
• With wealth creation turning positive again, the choices of UHNWIs will have a growing influence on real estate outcomes.
• 22% of wealthy individuals want to invest in residential property this year, and 19% in commercial property.
• The need for private capital to aid the repurposing and upgrading of global property have never been higher.

This report was originally published in https://www.knightfrank.com/wealthreport

Despite a challenging economic environment, data centres remain in focus for the commercial real estate industry in Asia Pacific, with notable market developments across the region.

CBRE’s latest Asia Pacific report explores key data centre investment trends and outlook for the sector in the region, and offers insights into the data centre occupier and investment market in Australia, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Singapore, India and Korea.

Key regional trends include:

• Investor demand for data centres is strong, with a wide range of buyers seeking stabilised assets. However, there remains a lack of stock for sale.
• Prevailing high interest rates continue to weigh on data centre investment. However, investment volume in 2024 is expected to recover from last year’s low base, driven by activity in Japan.
• In addition to increased activity by hyperscalers and more corporates moving towards a co-location approach, there has been a surge in AI-related demand since late 2023.
• Power supply, especially a lack of renewable energy, is becoming a major challenge for future data centre development. 

This report was originally published in https://www.cbre.com/insights/reports/asia-pacific-data-centre-trends-q1-2024

CBRE’s 2024 Global Investor Intentions Survey reveals buyers’ and sellers’ preferred strategies, markets and property types. Highlights of the report include:

• Global investors expect to engage in more buying and selling activity compared with 2023 amid growing optimism that the real estate investment market conditions will improve.
• Although some further cap rate expansion is expected, this trend should start to reverse by midyear.
• While investors in most markets remain cautious in H1 2024, expected interest rate cuts by midyear should lead to improved commercial real estate investment activity in the second half of the year.

This report was originally published in https://www.cbre.com/insights/reports/2024-global-investor-intentions-survey

Against a volatile economic backdrop, the Asia Pacific office market remains steadfast and continues to grow, with a broadly positive outlook. The need to innovate and evolve has not diminished. Companies are striving to meet their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) targets, and new modes of working embrace flexibility, collaboration, and innovation, while fostering diversity and inclusion. The office is central to many of these transformative processes, with an increasing focus on building quality, fit out design, and raw material selection.

This year’s Guide takes a closer look at 33 key cities across the region, as well as:

• Key considerations for a best-in-class office fit out: creating office value, inclusive and sustainable design and partnership with landlords
• Cost estimates of three different styles of fit outs to cater to the post-pandemic workforce
• A comprehensive fit out cost breakdown that includes furniture, mechanical and electrical works, construction works, IT, audio visual and miscellaneous costs
• Three different levels of reinstatement costs, together with average retrofit costs

The pandemic spurred a sharp rise in e-commerce, causing global supply chain vulnerabilities that underscored the need for greater resiliency. Third-party logistics (3PL) warehouse operators had to optimise supply chain operations, cut costs and utilise new technologies. 3PLs have been highly effective, now dominating demand for industrial & logistics space, impacting real estate fundamentals and warehouse building design, and leading to further industry evolution such as fourth-party logistics (4PL) and reverse logistics.

3PLs have grown globally:

• Asia-Pacific: 3PLs accounted for 30%-40% of logistics leasing activity in 2023, with marginal growth ahead. This trend is driven by cost-cutting initiatives and a desire for efficiency amid logistics’ increasing complexity.
• United States: 3PL leasing activity accounted for more than 30% of bulk transactions (over 100,000 sq. ft.) since the pandemic’s onset due to significantly higher e-commerce, requiring corresponding warehouse space. Although economic uncertainty has slowed short-term 3PL growth, the long-term outlook is strong. 4PL will drive even more modern warehouse space demand.
• Europe: 3PLs have become a larger part of logistics leasing demand, increasing by 10+ percentage points since 2019. During this time, for XXL facilities (warehouses over 50,000 sq. m. or 580,000 sq. ft.), final occupiers have increasingly preferred to control the lease themselves and contract a 3PL to operate the warehouse.

This report was originally published in https://www.cbre.com/insights/reports/the-global-outsourcing-of-warehousing

The Asia Pacific real estate landscape is evolving, witnessing a surge in alternative sectors such as data centers and healthcare. A collaborative survey by APREA and CenterSquare Investment Management gathered insights from diverse industry leaders and professionals, revealing a notable inclination towards alternative real estate.

Investors foresee higher potential returns in these sectors over the next 1-3 years, with a strong focus on data centers, healthcare, and multi-family and student accommodations. Challenges include limited stock availability and the importance of operating platforms for optimal returns.

Japan is perceived as the current hotspot, while Indonesia and Thailand emerge as promising markets for the future. The survey emphasizes the need for ongoing education to enhance investor understanding of the evolving real estate dynamics.

Like other commercial real estate sectors, the industrial sector globally has been buffeted by a variety of headwinds and tailwinds over the past few years. Notwithstanding these near-term fluctuations, the underlying driver for the sector in Asia Pacific is one of growth and expansion. This is being fuelled by several sources which is driving transformative change across the region and is creating a range of opportunities for occupiers, developers and investors alike. However, at the same time there are challenges that need to be overcome for the sector to reach its full potential in the region. 

Cushman & Wakefield’s latest industrial report offers a comprehensive view of these drivers and challenges impacting the logistics and industrial sector, as well as put a focus on the trends and provides strategies for key markets such as Greater China, India, and Southeast Asia to help navigate these conditions.

• Intra-APAC trade has increased 5-fold in USD dollar values since 2000, further growth is expected which will force supply chains to become more regionally focused.
• As mainland China continues to move up the value chain, new manufacturing and logistics hubs are emerging, especially across Southeast Asia and India creating opportunities across the region.
• Although labour pools are deep compared to Europe and US, talent is heavily concentrated within the region. At the same time, there is great variability in skill levels, meaning investment in capability and capacity building.
• Port throughput capacity also needs to be expanded across much of the region. India and Southeast Asian markets, cumulatively account for 19% of throughput of the world’s top 50 ports, while China accounts for 45%.
• Sectoral trends are also driving the need to redesign supply chains to incorporate greater flexibility, automation and resilience while also reducing input costs and accommodating greater sustainability initiatives.
• Occupiers of logistics and industrial space can capitalise on these opportunities by expanding into new markets and/or expanding existing facilities to meet the forecast growth in demand. However, they would be well advised to undertake rigorous supply chain mapping and location analysis to help ensure the optimum design of their manufacturing and distribution strategy.
• For investors and developers, opportunities will flow from leveraging existing relationships with tenants to aid their expansion through providing bespoke solutions. In turn, this will provide opportunities to deploy capital and expand portfolio sizes.

The new PMRE Monitor 2024: An AI User Manual provides assistance and offers guidance on the path to the future. The results of the market analysis have been used to create a handbook – an AI User Manual – that prepares players of the real estate industry for the use of AI.

You will learn in detail

• which visions can be realised with AI in the real estate industry,
• how employees can be mobilised to use AI and
• how the transformation of the entire company can be managed.

The Global Real Estate DEI Survey is the only corporate study of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) management practices and data benchmarking in the commercial real estate (CRE) industry.

This third iteration of the Global Real Estate DEI Survey is the result of the collaboration between six sponsoring associations NAREIM, NCREIF, PREA, REALPAC, ULI and Ferguson Partners, as well as 14 supporting associations AFIRE, AIA, APREA, AREF, BOMA, BPF, CFMA, CoreNet Global, CREFC, EPRA, NAIOP, OSCRE, PFA and RICS.

This is a summary report of high-level results providing a view of DEI metrics relating to:

• DEI program structure, resources and ownership.
• Policies focused on recruitment, retention and promotion, inclusive culture, tracking and accountability, and pay equity.
• Employee demographics by gender and race/ethnicity, across seniority and job function, as well as DEI hiring, promotion and

departure trends year-over-year.

Survey participants receive a spreadsheet with full data, providing for an in-depth look and suitable for benchmarking DEI policies and achievements against peers.

The Global Real Estate DEI Survey Volume III represents 296,902 full-time real estate employees, $1.98 trillion of assets under management, and a cross-section of the commercial real estate industry in terms of size, region and business classification.

The Survey brings together participation from 216 unique organizations which provided 236 submissions detailing their DEI practices in North America (79.2% of respondents), Europe (11.9%) and Asia-Pacific (8.9%). Data was collected between July 17 and September 29, 2023.