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Of all Asian investors, Singaporeans have the most diverse sector exposure, revealed a CBRE report.
In 2016, investors from the city-state injected a total of US$12 billion in overseas assets, with industrial assets in Europe and Japan, as well as offices in the UK, accounting for a significant portion of acquisitions.
“Singapore is one of the earliest to seek global diversification and as such, investors tend to be more explorative and innovative in finding new ways for yield creation in a seemingly borderless market,” said Yvonne Siew, CBRE’s Executive Director for Global Capital Markets, Asia Pacific.
She cited GIC’s purchase of P3 Logistics Parks in 62 locations across nine countries in Europe, as well as Mapletree’s portfolio of offices in the UK and its acquisition of student housing accommodation both in the UK and the US.
“We continue to see interest for alternative sectors such as healthcare, senior living, student housing, data centres and real estate debt,” she said.
Meanwhile, Chinese investors dominated Asian outbound real estate investment last year, accounting for 47 percent of the total investment, or US$28.2 billion, revealed the latest CBRE data.
However, Siew expects Chinese outbound real estate investment to moderate, on the back of rigorous checks by the government on cross-border capital flows.
With this, Chinese investors “may opt for a higher number of smaller deals” instead of larger transactions, she said. “Regardless, Chinese appetite for global real estate investment will remain solid but more cautious, with Chinese insurers and qualified asset managers being the active institutional investor class.”
CBRE revealed that the US is still the most preferred destination by Asian investors, attracting 43 percent of the overall total, while the office sector remained the most favoured asset class.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
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