Despite the financial crisis in Europe and the US, property occupiers are not sitting still, according to the Global Economic Pulse report released by Cushman & Wakefield (C&W).
The report showed a mixed forecast for the property market in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. However, stronger economies in specific markets across the globe offer an improved forecast in the later part of 2012.
"While we have been in the midst of challenging economic times, there is now a growing sense of constrained optimism, and we anticipate the global economy to strengthen during the second half of 2012," said Glenn Rufrano, CEO and President C&W.
Economic dynamism in the Asia Pacific region remains one of the bright spots in the challenging global environment, with GDP growth expected to slow slightly but to continue steadily this year.
"Increasing intra-regional trade, plus continued economic strength among the region's powerhouses of China, Indonesia and India should support relatively good growth in the Asia Pacific region," noted Sigrid Zialcita, C&W's Managing Director of Research for the Asia Pacific region.
Property market conditions will remain highly segmented across the region this year.
"Generally, we still expect healthy occupier demand to support positive office absorption, but at a lower rate compared to 2011. We expect the abundance of risks to foster caution among occupiers and sustain their focus on the rationalisation of space requirements and minimisation of costs," said in the report.
C&W expects office property yields to remain stable across the region. Peaking interest rates and high inflation rates in emerging economies like China and India will also encourage foreign capital to seek opportunistic investments, especially in mixed-use projects.
"These markets alongside Indonesia and Malaysia should attract incremental risk capital," it said.
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