Investment volumes in the Asia Pacific region increased by 50.2% in the first three months of 2013 on a quarter-on-quarter basis, according to the Capital Markets MarketBeat report by Cushman & Wakefield.
Investment into core countries more than doubled between Q4 2012 and the first quarter of 2013, but only increased by about 7% compared to Q1 2012.
However, investment into emerging markets increased by a fifth compared to the last quarter in 2012, amounting to $22.6bn, while volumes were up by over 30% from a year ago. Emerging markets have been more active due to an upward trend in the sales of development land sites.
Cross-border investment in the Asia Pacific region was subdued and accounted for 7.6% of the total invested, down from 12.9% in Q1 2013 compared to the previous quarter, and decreased by 10.8% compared to Q1 2012.
Foreign investment into Malaysia has already exceeded the annual totals for each of the past four years. About $630.9m, representing 95.7%, was invested in land in the Iskandar region.
C&W’s Asia Pacific capital markets managing director John Stinson said: “The APAC region remains a real target for investors. The outlook for China, especially in the core market of Shanghai, is positive with investors looking at office and retail assets. In the emerging markets space, Southeast Asia continues to be favourable, with strong economic growth prospects and government investment programmes as well as committed measures at structural reforms. We expect investment volumes in emerging markets to rise this year.”
