PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards looks back on a year of firsts

A message from PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards
First Quarter 2021

This year brought major new challenges for the real estate industry in Asia, but we firmly believe that by focusing on quality and integrity, the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards will help inspire property developers to bounce back stronger than ever.

We presented 384 awards over the course of the 2020 PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards series, up from 330+ awards presented in the previous year—a monumental feat of resilience in the face of so many pandemic induced uncertainties.

It is not lost on us that such progress also marked a commemorative occasion for the awards programme: The PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards series marked its milestone 15th year in 2020. It is truly heartening to have seen the programme evolve from its humble beginnings in 2005 to become the most prestigious real estate awards programme in the region.

The 15th edition of the awards programme was also a year of firsts. In 2020, we presented the inaugural Greater Niseko edition of the programme—the 2020 PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Greater Niseko)—celebrating exemplary developments in one of the world’s top ski resort property markets. Meanwhile, the programme continued its expansion in South Asia with the presentation of the first PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (India), adding to the list of leading markets covered in the series.

We saw these extraordinary times as a cause for innovation and adaptation. With the health and safety of guests in mind, we staged our 2020 awards programme—with the exception of three markets—as a series of livestreamed online gala events for the first time. Broadcast on multiple digital platforms, these virtual gala events were truly inclusive, not only celebrating developers’ achievements, but also informing property seekers and property agents around the world of the diverse choices on offer in high-quality Asia Pacific real estate. To date, the 2020 PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards virtual gala series has been viewed more than 516,000 times in more than 75 countries.

In a year where terms like “new normal” and “social distancing” became everyday bywords, we continued to extend our award titles, honouring more outstanding companies with never-before-presented Developer categories and showcasing more niche and segment-specific achievements with new Development and Design categories. The same spirit of innovation permeated the most recent edition of the PropertyGuru Asia Real Estate Summit, tinged with green thanks to a well-curated line-up of sustainability-minded speakers and influencers.

We hope that this message reminds you of all the good things that prevailed in 2020 and will endure over the coming years. We are confident that the awards programme will continue to set new standards in the real estate and construction sectors, reflecting the depth and variety of properties on offer to investors and homebuyers across Asia Pacific.

Jules Kay
Managing Director
PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards & Events