Hong Kong falls off global real estate investors’ radars even as they eye more assets in Asia-Pacific
- City not among the top 10 destinations in poll of 84 institutional investors and 15 funds of funds managers
- Hong Kong declines in survey conducted by CBRE as well
Hong Kong seems to have fallen out of favour with global real estate investors, even as a greater number are either keeping or increasing their allocations for the Asia-Pacific region this year, various surveys have found.
The special administrative region (SAR) was not among the top 10 destinations in a survey jointly conducted by the Asian Association for Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate Vehicles (Anrev), the European Association for Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate Vehicles and the Pension Real Estate Association. It came in at No. 11, same as last year, having fallen from the ninth spot that it occupied along with Macau in 2019.
Published annually in January, the survey polled 84 institutional investors and 15 funds of funds managers that collectively represented a minimum of US$846 billion in real-estate assets under management. About 77 per cent said the coronavirus pandemic had not changed their investment plans for Asia-Pacific, while 22 per cent said they would increase investment in the region.
“We have very reassuring results that basically investors said the pandemic has not impacted their investment plan, and 22 per cent even said it has pushed them to increase their investments in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Amelie Delaunay, director of research and professional standards at Hong Kong-based Anrev.
Investors still have a lot of capital to invest and the real-estate market is much less volatile. The Asia-Pacific region is attracting investors looking to diversify, as well as institutional investors looking to rebalance their portfolio, Delaunay said.
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In the longer term, 72 per cent of the respondents said, they were likely to increase their investment in the region over the next two years, higher than the proportion expecting an increase in allocation to other regions.
Sydney, Melbourne and Tokyo were the three most preferred destinations, while tier 1 cities in mainland China occupied the fourth spot. Singapore took the ninth spot.