Asia Pacific leads surge in global property investment

Asia Pacific leads surge in global property investmentA report from DTZ reveals that the value of commercial real estate held by investors soared to new heights in 2013 to a total of US$12.9 trillion, with Asia Pacific overtaking Europe as the new global leader.According to the DTZ report Money into Property, invested property stock in the Asia Pacific grew by 9 per cent last year to hit a total value of US$4.6 trillion.This means, for the first time since the report was published, the region overtook Europe, which reported modest growth of 2 per cent to total US$4.4 trillion. North America is the next largest region with investment stock worth US$3.9 trillion.Over the same period transaction volumes for commercial property went up by 22 per cent to reach US$518 billion. Cross-border transactions drove global activity.Within the Asia Pacific, however, growth has not been even. China led the way but both the Japanese and Australian markets went backwards, largely due to currency devaluation against the US dollar.The report noted concerns about the Chinese market with regards to the sustainability and liquidity of non-bank commercial lending in China. Non-bank lending now makes up an estimated 46 per cent of total private debt in China.However, the report also says that, while the non-bank lending channel had grown quickly thanks to restrictions on ordinary bank lending, gearing in China is at 54 per cent, below the levels in America (65 per cent) and Europe (56 per cent).DTZ’s Money into Property report can be found here