Over three-quarters of global investors plan to raise allocations to Asia Pacific real estate in 2020, a year in which the global real estate market is expected to see the influx of more than US$100 billion of new capital, according to results of a new survey.
The findings are based on feedback from 140 respondents, 101 of whom are already invested or plan to invest in Asia Pacific. The group comprises 125 institutional investors and 15 funds of funds.
The survey was conducted by the Asian Association for Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate Vehicles, its European counterpart, and the Pension Real Estate Association.
Some 77.5% of respondents plan to increase allocations to Asia Pacific this year, the groups say in a joint statement on January 19.
The majority, or 58.3%, prefer to do so via non-listed funds, 36.4% through joint ventures, and 28.9% via direct investment. (Figures add up to more than 100% because the question is framed in a way that allows respondents to pick more than one option.)
Overall, respondents plan to deploy $101.3 billion of new capital into real estate globally with 61.2% of the money coming from investors in Europe, and the balance evenly split between Asia Pacific and North America.
Some 45% of the new capital is expected to be invested in Europe, and 31.9% in Asia Pacific.
Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, and Tokyo and Osaka in Japan, topped the list of overall favoured markets.
Most investors also still prefer the office sector, followed by industrial/logistics and residential.
“The appetite for retail assets has substantially decreased among institutional investors,” the statement says, adding that fewer than one-third of investors are willing to commit capital into the sector in Asia Pacific compared to nearly two-thirds in the 2019 survey.
