Real estate investment volumes in Asia Pacific expected to grow by 2021

Investors believe that Australia, China, Japan and South Korea will experience most of the increase 

The recently-published real estate investor survey conducted by JLL revealed that the real estate transactional activity in Asia Pacific will bounce back in the first half of 2021 as investors contemplate the current state of the market because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Uncertainties with the environment and the economy caused by the outbreak have made it more difficult to deploy capital, which drove investors to shift their strategies in the region, concentrating more on core geographies and further expediting pre-COVID trends. 

Among the respondents, 84 percent believe that the investment volumes will pick up by the second half of 2020. However, a more in-depth analysis uncovered that 32 percent expect recovery in the second half of the year, while 52 percent anticipate recovery in the first half of 2021. 

More: Commercial investment transactions drop by 94 percent from January to May in Asia Pacific

With expectations for the activity to rebound in the coming six to 12 months, most of the investors singled out Australia, China, Japan and South Korea as the markets that will experience a boost in transactional activity by 2021. 

“Our interactions with clients reinforce the view that investors will continue to seek defensive locations and sectors where the rental collection experience has been positive,” said Stuart Crow, the CEO of capital markets in Asia Pacific at JLL. 

“Japan and Korea remain high on the preferences for clients, as do sectors such as multifamily, non-discretionary retail and logistics. As transactional activity increases and pockets of value emerge from the crisis, we expect investors to move up the risk curve,” he added.