Singapore Pier Bay Area.
Getty
Global CEO Christian Ulbrich said the property markets in Australia, Japan, South Korea and Singapore will remain hot in the coming years as global investors seek to diversify their portfolios diversify with demand from China and Europe. and the president of real estate consulting firm JLL.
“For international investors, the world is getting smaller and smaller,” Ulbridge told Forbes Asia In a recent interview in Singapore. “Europe and China are struggling. So where are you going? Apart from that, you've still gone to the United States and everyone is already there. That's why you're seeing a lot of deals in Singapore, Japan, Australia and South Korea pretty.”
Real estate investment in the Asia-Pacific region climbed 23% in 2024, led by earnings from Australia, India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore, according to JLL's Capital Tracker Report in January, to $131 billion. Singapore has been attracting billionaires and high net worth individuals to set up family offices in island countries – with the strongest growth in the region, with global investors pouring over $11.5 billion in the Lions City, a 60% increase over the region, 60% higher than the region in the previous year.
One of the biggest deals in Singapore last year was S$1.6 billion from Tycoon Lim Chap Huat’s Soil Build Group, an Australian developer Lendlease, which was offered by New York-based private equity firm Warburg Pincus and Australian developer Lendlease in S$16 billion from Tycoon Lim Chap Huat’s Soil Build Group. Purchased portfolios of office and industrial properties in August. (US$1.2 billion). Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok's Allgreen Properties was also active last year, acquiring a suburban shopping mall in March and picking up a residential plot next to its flagship property next to its flagship store. It was at the government land auction in July, at the Great World Business Center outside the Central Business District. A company that likes billionaire couple Zhang Yong and Shu Ping (shareholders of China Boiler Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain Chain reportedly bought the office building of the CBD Center from Capitaland.
“In Singapore, people think it’s a very predictable environment, a very safe environment for real estate investment,” Ulbridge said. “There are not so many places in the world that can be considered this [more]
It can be predicted more than here. ”
Christian Ulbrich, Group CEO and President of JLL.
Provided by JLL
Besides Singapore, Ulbricht said he hopes Australia, Japan and South Korea remain attractive to global investors.
According to JLL, Japan attracted about $36 billion in investment in 2024, up 48% from the previous year as investors snapped up hotels as the tourism boom in the rising sunlands. In October, US private equity firm TPG Angelo Gordon agreed to buy a large Tokyo Avenue with 882 rooms for 1006 billion yen ($698 million). “Despite rising interest rates, Japan remains attractive for its positive yield differences,” JLL said in a note for January.
In addition to hotels, there was also demand for industrial properties last year, especially in Australia, India and South Korea, due to the boom in digital infrastructure. In September, U.S. private equity firm Blackstone led a consortium that includes the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Commission to buy Australian data center operator Airtrunk for $24 billion ($15.3 billion), which is known as the industry's largest ever transaction. In June, a fund backed by Sydney Macquarie Group purchased its first data center portfolio in South Korea. “There is a hype around the data center,” Ulbricht said, adding that while demand for such facilities is large, growth is limited because there is not enough power supply to power all of these data centers.
