Hong Kong’s commercial property market attracted US$1.6 billion in investment in the first quarter, up 41 per cent from a year earlier, as demand for office, retail and hotel assets picked up amid improving liquidity, according to JLL.
“With Asia increasingly perceived as a relatively stable and defensive investment destination, institutional investors from the Middle East may rebalance portfolios with greater capital allocation to the region,” JLL said. “Hong Kong stands to benefit as one of the key recipients of this capital inflow.”
The investments in the January to March period were spurred by “increased liquidity in the office sector, with asset prices in core locations approaching a near-term floor [and a] pickup in retail activity as Chinese end users made acquisitions”, JLL said.
Peer CBRE, meanwhile, tracked HK$12.3 billion (US$1.57 billion) in investment in the segment in the same period, up 105 per cent from a year earlier, driven by demand from educational institutions and end users.