Commercial property investment deals in Australia tapered off amid pandemic

In the first quarter of the year, the numbers dropped to almost 50 percent

According to Commercial Real Estate, the investment activity on commercial properties in Australia has plunged by almost half in the first quarter of the year as the coronavirus pandemic spread across the Asia Pacific region.

The investment volume plunged by about 47 percent to AUD2.16 (USD1.41) billion year-on-year in the first quarter, while the number of transactions also dropped to 47 percent, based on the data published by Real Capital Analytics.

Japanese and Chinese property markets went through the same fate since their commercial property deals slipped by 42 percent and 67 percent respectively.

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So far, the South Korean property market has stood out, growing twice as much in investment volumes compared to most of the major countries across the region.

“So far there have only been few indications of deals being terminated, suggesting that investors are adopting a wait-and-see approach rather than entering panic mode,” said David Green-Morgan, the managing director of analytics for Asia Pacific at Real Capital Analytics.

“The wave of the pandemic is further along in Asia Pacific than other regions and most signs suggest that [the region] may already be at, or near, the bottom of the investment slump,” he added.