Asians continue to invest in the West

The movement of money from Asia to Western markets in Europe and the United States will likely still be a major influence on global real estate this year, according to the Global Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2015 report jointly published by PwC and the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

The report, based on the views of senior global property investors, found that 84 percent of Asia-Pacific respondents expect cross-border capital into Europe to increase significantly.

Local money coming out of China and South Korea will continue moving into international markets, and will be supplemented in the coming years by pension fund capital from Japan.

The so-called ‘flight to safety’ effect was cited as another reason leading many investors to move capital to perceived safe havens.

Meanwhile, money flows into major assets in the UK and US is likely to shift towards less high-profile cities in Germany, France and the US, noted the report.

Simon Hardwick, PwC Legal partner and one of the report’s authors, said: “There is still a wall of capital targeting real estate opportunities in many markets across the globe. The search for better yields has taken some investors into development and secondary markets, moving them up the risk curve. But investors must strike a balance between the need to deploy capital and the ability to achieve good returns, at a time when there is such a difference in the economic conditions across the globe.

“Real estate investors have a wide range of issues to consider when making investment decisions. What is clear is that they may have to approach those decisions in a completely different way in the future. Capital allocations may need to be made to a wider range of asset types than ever before, ranging from retirement and student housing to data centres and self-storage.”

Romesh Navaratnarajah, Singapore Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg

Chinese buyers to solve Iskandar’s housing glut

The large number of residential properties in Iskandar Malaysia can be absorbed by the market claim Chinese developers, as they bring with them fresh demand from China’s growing middle class.

“We have one million owners in China, and it’s like a fan club. Wherever we go, there are just buyers that buy without any questions,” said Nicholas Hum, Sales and Marketing General Manager at Country Garden Holdings.

The Hong Kong-listed firm has been criticised for its enormous Forest City project, which is being built on reclaimed land close to the Tuas Second Link.

At a separate development in Danga Bay, across the sea from Singapore’s Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, the developer is building a condominium which it hopes will be as successful as its other housing projects in China.

In 2013, this project surprised the market when 6,000 of its 9,400 units were reserved within a month of its launch. Although some unqualified buyers were subsequently filtered out via the loan application process, the figure of 6,000 has remained due to later sales, Hum said.

This year, 200 units have so far been taken up at the project, and Country Garden is optimistic that more buyers from China will back this development.

In fact, the Chinese have become the largest buyers of this project, accounting for 35 percent of the units. The second largest group are Malaysians who have bought 30 percent of the units, followed by Singaporeans (25 percent).

In addition, some Chinese buyers have applied for the long-stay visa scheme under the Malaysia My Second Home programme, noted Hum.

“They’re trying to come here more frequently and without restrictions. So it’s not just a summer home, it’s a second option.”

Chinese buyers are also being lured by world-class learning institutions at the nearby EduCity and the prestigious British boarding school Marlborough College.

“A lot of them are concerned about their kids. They plan quite far ahead,” he explained.

Image: Artist’s impression of Forest City by Country Garden.

Farah Wahida, Editor at PropertyGuru Malaysia, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email farahwahida@propertyguru.com.my