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Top 50 global cities for development investment Q2 2015

Globe-goldWhat happens when the most active cities for real estate development in the world are also the ones losing the most investment? Exclusive research by Cushman & Wakefield reveals that falling funds in the Asia Pacific region have fuelled a 32% drop in development investment in the world’s most active cities overall. Estates Gazette crunches the numbers.

Times, they are a-changing. A mere 18 months ago global real estate growth was being driven forward at warp speed by the juggernaut that was China. Now the top 50 cities in the Asia Pacific region (see table below) are collectively facing a 35% fall in investment into development sites for the year up to Q2 2015. A drop that not even a freak $6bn (£3.9bn) deal in Seoul resulting in a mammoth 7,539% increase in development investment could mitigate.

Exclusive research by Cushman & Wakefield has revealed that the $438bn investment into development sites in the Asia Pacific region recorded from Q3 2013 to Q2 2014 has dropped to $285bn for the period between Q3 2014 and Q2 2015 (see table below).

And thanks to the fact the region is home to the top 14 cities in the global investment league – New York only gets a look in at number 15 – the Asia Pacific slowdown has impacted heavily on total global investment figures, to the point where the top 50 cities in the world collectively saw a 32% drop in investment.

But it is not all bad news. There was an 8.3% increase in investment across the top 50 cities in the Americas and a 1.7% rise in the EMEA region. Small, yes, but growth nonetheless, with London seeing a healthy 31.7% uplift on last year.

The trick as the world’s economies and property markets rebalance is to know where to put your money and how to protect assets in falling or distressed markets.


Headline stats Q2 2015

32% total fall in investment in development across the top 50 cities in the world

0 number of non-Asia Pacific cities in the top 10 global cities by investment into development

1 number of non-Asia Pacific cities in the top 20

7,539% rise in development investment in Seoul between 2013/14 and 2014/15, thanks to a $6bn deal

156% fall in investment across Asia Pacific’s top five cities

551.3% growth in investment in the Madrid market over the past 12 months

30 position of the highest-ranked European city (London) in the global cities league

22% amount by which investment into Los Angeles fell over the past year

10 position at which the first Canadian city appears in the Americas league

180.1% increase in investment in Las Vegas recorded over the past year

26 position before the first Australian city makes it into the Asia Pacific league. Over halfway through

5% average collective growth of the top five EMEA cities in the past 12 months

7 number of non-Asia Pacific cities in the global top 50


Top 50 global cities

Q3 2014 – Q2 2015 (US$) Q3 2013 – Q2 2014 (US$) GROWTH (compared with prior 12 months)
1 Shanghai 28,875,591,030 37,407,723,339 -23%
2 Beijing 23,391,258,004 38,543,747,838 -39%
3 Chongqing 15,244,070,866 27,759,062,803 -45%
4 Guangzhou 12,959,034,742 13,047,766,911 -1%
5 Seoul 10,858,645,232 142,155,808 7539%
6 Nanjing 10,785,350,813 16,519,584,362 -35%
7 Wuhan 10,728,707,100 9,396,061,721 14%
8 Hangzhou 9,876,246,380 23,191,333,874 -57%
9 Tianjin 8,686,474,682 16,322,923,852 -47%
10 Chengdu 8,066,137,656 11,416,285,417 -29%
11 Nantong 7,160,883,084 8,703,852,219 -18%
12 Hong Kong 7,021,326,285 6,522,034,426 8%
13 Qingdao 6,178,110,521 4,973,383,670 24%
14 Zhengzhou 6,164,314,742 3,849,853,182 60%
15 New York 6,091,988,726 5,941,770,232 3%
16 Jinan 5,983,835,024 8,549,409,974 -30%
17 Suzhou 5,741,957,851 14,591,751,540 -61%
18 Hefei 5,514,221,287 6,951,891,659 -21%
19 Changzhou 5,345,255,989 3,766,075,405 42%
20 Taizhou 5,296,249,054 5,669,496,131 -7%
21 Shenzhen 5,036,695,472 13,955,344,134 -64%
22 Singapore 4,656,650,993 7,761,346,642 -40%
23 Tokyo 3,988,226,050 4,992,946,405 -20%
24 Xiamen 3,827,397,170 4,779,894,110 -20%
25 Changsha 3,695,562,790 7,683,353,481 -52%
26 Sydney 3,510,283,428 2,296,976,016 53%
27 Xian 3,151,035,829 4,804,032,286 -34%
28 Zhuhai 3,122,566,058 6,665,009,670 -53%
29 Xuzhou 3,114,621,118 5,872,284,888 -47%
30 London 2,912,601,394 2,211,715,695 32%
31 Ningbo 2,766,902,038 7,553,470,675 -63%
32 Foshan 2,620,936,272 11,149,591,991 -76%
33 San Francisco 2,527,788,765 1,354,108,600 87%
34 Nanchang 2,479,045,419 3,793,917,226 -35%
35 Kunming 2,420,649,126 2,704,597,850 -10%
36 Taipei 2,135,969,494 4,035,583,176 -47%
37 Nanning 2,052,894,422 4,139,860,851 -50%
38 Wuxi 2,049,535,016 4,789,085,107 -57%
39 Yancheng 1,989,145,075 3,385,898,745 -41%
40 Melbourne 1,989,074,627 1,730,686,290 15%
41 Shijiazhuang 1,982,956,197 2,275,995,670 -13%
42 Taiyuan 1,944,384,683 2,419,363,995 -20%
43 Los Angeles 1,877,253,071 2,422,323,102 -23%
44 Shenyang 1,787,255,882 7,505,605,262 -76%
45 Miami 1,483,696,836 1,044,533,356 42%
46 Fuzhou 1,476,633,216 8,761,310,049 -83%
47 Kuala Lumpur 1,364,919,477 1,257,839,436 9%
48 Shaoxing 1,351,223,437 1,325,852,621 2%
49 Jiaxing 1,289,909,799 3,505,866,640 -63%
50 Changchun 1,258,467,308 3,518,007,747 -64%
TOTAL 275,833,939,530 402,962,566,080 -32%

Top 50 in Asia Pacific

Q3 2014 – Q2 2015 (US$) Q3 2013 – Q2 2014 (US$) GROWTH (compared with prior 12 months)
1 Shanghai 28,875,591,030 37,407,723,339 -22.8%
2 Beijing 23,391,258,004 38,543,747,838 -39.3%
3 East China 19,557,302,602 37,547,386,386 -47.9%
4 Chongqing 15,244,070,866 27,759,062,803 -45.1%
5 Guangzhou 12,959,034,742 13,047,766,911 -0.7%
6 Seoul 10,858,645,232 142,155,808 7538.6%
7 Nanjing 10,785,350,813 16,519,584,362 -34.7%
8 Wuhan 10,728,707,100 9,396,061,721 14.2%
9 Hangzhou 9,876,246,380 23,191,333,874 -57.4%
10 Tianjin 8,686,474,682 16,322,923,852 -46.8%
11 Chengdu 8,066,137,656 11,416,285,417 -29.3%
12 Nantong 7,160,883,084 8,703,852,219 -17.7%
13 Hong Kong 7,021,326,285 6,522,034,426 7.7%
14 Qingdao 6,178,110,521 4,973,383,670 24.2%
15 Zhengzhou 6,164,314,742 3,849,853,182 60.1%
16 Jinan 5,983,835,024 8,549,409,974 -30.0%
17 Suzhou 5,741,957,851 14,591,751,540 -60.6%
18 Hefei 5,514,221,287 6,951,891,659 -20.7%
19 Changzhou 5,345,255,989 3,766,075,405 41.9%
20 Taizhou 5,296,249,054 5,669,496,131 -6.6%
21 Shenzhen 5,036,695,472 13,955,344,134 -63.9%
22 Singapore 4,656,650,993 7,761,346,642 -40.0%
23 Tokyo 3,988,226,050 4,992,946,405 -20.1%
24 Xiamen 3,827,397,170 4,779,894,110 -19.9%
25 Changsha 3,695,562,790 7,683,353,481 -51.9%
26 Sydney 3,510,283,428 2,296,976,016 52.8%
27 Xian 3,151,035,829 4,804,032,286 -34.4%
28 Zhuhai 3,122,566,058 6,665,009,670 -53.1%
29 Xuzhou 3,114,621,118 5,872,284,888 -47.0%
30 Ningbo 2,766,902,038 7,553,470,675 -63.4%
31 Foshan 2,620,936,272 11,149,591,991 -76.5%
32 Nanchang 2,479,045,419 3,793,917,226 -34.7%
33 Kunming 2,420,649,126 2,704,597,850 -10.5%
34 Taipei 2,135,969,494 4,035,583,176 -47.1%
35 Nanning 2,052,894,422 4,139,860,851 -50.4%
36 Wuxi 2,049,535,016 4,789,085,107 -57.2%
37 Yancheng 1,989,145,075 3,385,898,745 -41.3%
38 Melbourne 1,989,074,627 1,730,686,290 14.9%
39 Shijiazhuang 1,982,956,197 2,275,995,670 -12.9%
40 Taiyuan 1,944,384,683 2,419,363,995 -19.6%
41 Shenyang 1,787,255,882 7,505,605,262 -76.2%
42 Fuzhou 1,476,633,216 8,761,310,049 -83.1%
43 Kuala Lumpur 1,364,919,477 1,257,839,436 8.5%
44 Shaoxing 1,351,223,437 1,325,852,621 1.9%
45 Jiaxing 1,289,909,799 3,505,866,640 -63.2%
46 Changchun 1,258,467,308 3,518,007,747 -64.2%
47 Yangzhou 1,163,413,143 2,387,569,226 -51.3%
48 Dalian 1,125,946,973 5,645,270,582 -80.1%
49 Zhenjiang 908,133,772 1,504,155,593 -39.6%
50 Brisbane 888,477,353 443,233,301 100.5%
TOTAL 284,583,884,581 437,515,730,181 -35%

Top 50 in the Americas

Q3 2014 – Q2 2015 (US$) Q3 2013 – Q2 2014 (US$) GROWTH (compared with prior 12 months)
1 New York 6,091,988,726 5,941,770,232 2.5%
2 San Francisco 2,527,788,765 1,354,108,600 86.7%
3 Los Angeles 1,877,253,071 2,422,323,102 -22.5%
4 Miami 1,483,696,836 1,044,533,356 42.0%
5 Washington DC 685,725,214 657,498,629 4.3%
6 Boston 642,057,774 353,708,785 81.5%
7 Chicago 564,104,550 377,084,026 49.6%
8 Houston 550,989,780 501,882,543 9.8%
9 Dallas 482,328,618 270,987,160 78.0%
10 Toronto 377,164,657 366,612,517 2.9%
11 Las Vegas 372,143,463 132,847,245 180.1%
12 San Diego 369,119,284 226,677,438 62.8%
13 Seattle 326,192,500 752,221,566 -56.6%
14 Phoenix 273,778,601 286,027,748 -4.3%
15 Denver 268,160,247 142,260,090 88.5%
16 Atlanta 255,015,598 383,157,190 -33.4%
17 Baltimore 232,540,128 150,265,101 54.8%
18 Hawaii 226,284,877 277,331,700 -18.4%
19 Philadelphia 202,315,333 253,227,242 -20.1%
20 Vancouver 197,521,666 246,182,363 -19.8%
21 Orlando 136,394,730 98,418,282 38.6%
22 Austin 133,540,737 152,050,000 -12.2%
23 Minneapolis 99,709,228 60,953,470 63.6%
24 Nashville 94,242,793 35,021,282 169.1%
25 Calgary 82,523,632 201,325,935 -59.0%
26 Raleigh/Durham 81,290,500 96,799,500 -16.0%
27 Harrisburg 78,051,592 9,466,419 724.5%
28 Salt Lake City 65,722,257 69,083,520 -4.9%
29 St Louis 64,800,000 25,045,000 158.7%
30 Tampa 58,974,500 144,141,762 -59.1%
31 San Antonio 56,600,000 65,398,447 -13.5%
32 Greenville 53,512,700 25,000,000 114.1%
33 Charlotte 52,007,500 217,127,744 -76.0%
34 Edmonton 50,065,520 125,889,244 -60.2%
35 Louisville 49,468,735 8,700,000 468.6%
36 Cleveland 48,000,000 0 n/a
37 Portland 46,142,982 82,941,354 -44.4%
38 Sacramento 44,346,500 86,344,500 -48.6%
39 Columbus 43,539,360 48,600,700 -10.4%
40 Milwaukee 39,358,856 34,815,000 13.1%
41 Jacksonville 31,350,000 26,000,000 20.6%
42 Kansas City 29,300,000 80,500,000 -63.6%
43 Grand Rapids 27,403,368 0 n/a
44 Gainesville 25,950,000 0 n/a
45 Richmond 25,444,819 34,850,000 -27.0%
46 Charleston 24,750,000 146,073,100 -83.1%
47 Cincinnati 22,899,576 39,892,323 -42.6%
48 Pittsburgh 22,446,000 5,500,000 308.1%
49 Detroit 22,000,000 50,667,600 -56.6%
50 El Paso 16,250,000 10,000,000 62.5%
TOTAL 19,632,233,571 18,121,311,813 8.3%

Top 50 in EMEA

Q3 2014 – Q2 2015 (US$) Q3 2013 – Q2 2014 (US$) GROWTH (compared with prior 12 months)
1 London 2,211,715,695 2,912,601,394 31.7%
2 Saint Petersburg 415,058,328 1,062,182,216 155.9%
3 Madrid 123,650,652 805,371,886 551.3%
4 Berlin 251,101,882 562,583,594 124.0%
5 Dubai 209,215,970 530,288,398 153.5%
6 Moscow 2,164,245,566 404,013,856 -81.3%
7 Munich 450,820,761 384,048,717 -14.8%
8 Frankfurt 468,848,868 379,372,070 -19.1%
9 Stockholm 217,439,830 215,960,548 -0.7%
10 Dublin 20,979,915 209,649,741 899.3%
11 Birmingham 30,000,000 199,771,707 565.9%
12 Warsaw 218,492,076 168,962,957 -22.7%
13 Gothenburg 98,850,373 166,753,083 68.7%
14 Vienna 266,592,893 163,629,389 -38.6%
15 Tel Aviv 64,510,346 128,492,601 99.2%
16 Bucharest 99,031,899 128,489,731 29.7%
17 Copenhagen 83,355,119 113,477,820 36.1%
18 Hamburg 212,275,963 93,475,467 -56.0%
19 Stuttgart 150,197,188 89,300,293 -40.5%
20 Lisbon 0 71,975,127 #DIV/0!
21 Reading 58,663,500 67,114,300 14.4%
22 Manchester 47,775,425 62,948,248 31.8%
23 Hanover 55,954,349 61,097,169 9.2%
24 Nuremberg 13,534,678 47,345,156 249.8%
25 Barcelona 0 40,337,546 #DIV/0!
26 Edinburgh 9,863,100 36,097,748 266.0%
27 Oslo 87,008,742 29,830,710 -65.7%
28 Leeds 7,581,134 27,967,625 268.9%
29 Prague 115,770,059 23,892,914 -79.4%
30 Lyon 0 21,517,703 #DIV/0!
31 Zurich 275,113,183 21,382,950 -92.2%
32 Glasgow 0 20,952,674 #DIV/0!
33 Sofia 7,932,940 16,200,022 104.2%
34 Johannesburg 98,619,109 15,154,657 -84.6%
35 Paris 0 14,287,282 #DIV/0!
36 Istanbul 343,047,674 11,240,962 -96.7%
37 Newcastle 0 8,995,861 #DIV/0!
38 Malmo 16,738,087 8,452,152 -49.5%
39 Nottingham 8,372,250 7,671,722 -8.4%
40 Northampton 90,822,712 6,638,236 -92.7%
41 Southampton 50,283,000 6,025,400 -88.0%
42 Geneva 23,958,030 5,174,266 -78.4%
43 Bristol 6,127,644 4,276,056 -30.2%
44 Aberdeen 48,100,862 0 -100.0%
45 Belfast 0 0 #DIV/0!
46 Bern 15,882,856 0 -100.0%
47 Bratislava 0 0 #DIV/0!
48 Bremen 79,694,948 0 -100.0%
49 Brussels 6,953,060 0 -100.0%
50 Budapest 20,302,018 0 -100.0%
TOTAL 9,387,697,594 9,231,929,918 1.7%

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