S'pore still hot for property investment
Singapore's office, retail and industrial property markets were still "hot" prospects for investment in the first quarter, according to the latest Money into Property report released by DTZ.
"This is similar to the Q4 2010 findings, as we expect continued price and rental increases based on Singapore's projected economic growth in 2011 and over the next few years," said Chua Chor Hoon, DTZ's Senior Research Director for South East Asia.
"The Singapore office market is ranked among the top five in the 'hot' category among Asia-Pacific cities covered in this study. Capital values are expected to re-price at a faster rate in 2011 compared with 2010 with growing interest from institutional investors."
Asia-Pacific scored 65 in the recent Q1 2011 DTZ Fair Value Index (FVI), an indicator of investment opportunities in the office, retail and industrial real estate markets. The maximum score given is 100.
The Asia-Pacific region also recorded robust increase in property investment volumes in 2010 to US$158 billion, twice the US$73 billion in 2009 and making the region the top market (46 percent of worldwide transactions).
Investment volumes in the Asia-Pacific region also outpaced Europe for the first time. Global investment volumes grew 76 percent to US$342 billion in 2010 from US$194 billion in 2009.
This year, DTZ expects a nine percent increase in global investment transaction volumes, mainly attributed to the continued recovery in Europe. However, Asia-Pacific is expected to see stable volumes.
"We expect that the government restrictions (on property transactions) in China will begin to take effect in 2011, and (there is) expected drop-off in activity in Japan following the earthquake," added DTZ.
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