Commercial real estate thrives – Phuket Property Watch

PHUKET: Direct investment volumes in global real estate markets reached US$125 billion in the third quarter (Q3) of the year, preliminary findings by real estate capital solutions firm, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) show.

Preliminary transaction volumes in the first three quarters of 2013 are up 16% over the same time period in 2012, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Capital Markets research, which spans 60 countries and more than 130 cities worldwide.

Preliminary direct commercial real estate investment volumes in Q3, 2013 reached $125 billion globally, up 3% over Q2, 2013 and up 25% when compared to Q3 2012.

Global volumes have now been above $100 billion for six consecutive quarters and this is expected to continue into the traditionally strong fourth quarter. In light of this positive trend in activity, JLL has updated its 2013 projected transaction volumes to $475-500 billion, from $450-500 billion, with the final outcome likely to be closer to the upper limit.

Arthur de Haast, Lead Director International Capital Group at JLL said, “Global transactional volumes continue to be positively influenced by investors looking outside their home markets for opportunities. With the improving levels of risk appetite and a more supportive economic environment, investors are more comfortable looking at opportunities across the spectrum both in terms of location and sectors.”

Q3 Global Highlights

•All three of the world’s “super regions” are ahead of this time last year with continued strong appetite for prime markets, with only Asia-Pacific seeing a pullback in Q3. The Americas saw a 15% rise in transaction volumes in Q3 compared to Q2 2013, reaching $60 billion (up 35% year-on-year); The broad EMEA [Europe, Middle-East and Africa] region also recorded strong growth reaching $42 billion, a 27% y-o-y increase in volume. Asia Pacific volumes are up just 1% in Q3 2013 over the same time period in 2012, reaching $23 billion. That’s a 30% fall from Q2 this year.

•Year to date, the bigger countries (in terms of economics) continue to perform well with Australia (up 13%), China (up 10%), Japan (up 64%), the United States (up 21%) the United Kingdom (up 10%), France (up 24%) and Germany (up 35%); transactional activity is increasingly spreading out from the prime cities, into more regional centers and secondary assets in the larger cities.

Finances Favorable

David Green-Morgan, Global Capital Markets Research Director at JLL concluded, “With the US Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world content to provide accommodative monetary policy for the next few quarters at least, the prospect of higher funding costs has dissipated.

“This will continue to provide support to transactional volumes, which combined with an increase in institutional allocations to the sector is the reason why we are confident that full year volumes will approach and may even exceed $500bn.”

The preliminary global capital flows volume will be featured prominently on JLL’s global edition of The Investor, an online and mobile app news source providing real-time commercial real estate news to asset buyers and sellers around the world.

The application delivers up-to-the-minute, customized, multimedia news updates on deals, industry trends and insight from real estate leaders.

To provide a first-mover competitive edge, The Investor has a geo-location detection feature, releasing global news and tailored content to users based on their current region so that they can stay updated on transactions and trends relevant to their market.

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