The remark was made by the firm’s managing director of global capital markets, Asia Pacific, in its 2024 Global Investor Outlook.
The latest report from Colliers, the 2024 Global Investor Outlook “points to steadily increasing activity” across APAC markets throughout the year ahead, which has been linked to more certainty around the policy environment, gaps between buyers and sellers narrowing, and the move of more investors to deploy capital.
Chris Pilgrim, the managing director of global capital markets, Asia Pacific, expressed that “2024 definitely looks more positive than 2023, with a lot of pent-up equity which is looking to find a home.”
Explaining that the depth of capital across most Asian markets “has to diversity”, he pointed to recent conversations he has had in one Asian market “where out of all the five large state institutions, all signaled their intentions to significantly increase their allocations to real estate over the next few years.”
“Particularly within the region, investors are aware of the resilience of the asset class and the growth opportunities offered in rapidly maturing markets such as India and South Korea.”
According to Mr Pilgrim, the firm is anticipating “a more dynamic year ahead”, with the report revealing that nearly six in 10 APAC investors do expect the region’s economic growth to “contribute positively to the real estate environment.”
That is reinforced by survey data which indicates a future upswing in the proportion of investors who are looking to boost their real estate allocations – with approximately 75 per cent of APAC respondents planning to dedicate five to 20 per cent of their assets under management towards real estate down the track.
So what will be needed from commercial players to get ahead of the changing marketplace and put their best foot forward in the new year?
“The ability to act quickly, dig deeply into markets and sectors to identify value, and forge productive partnerships will be key to making the most of the region’s resurgence,” Mr Pilgrim shared.
Those productive partnerships can begin to close to home, with Colliers expecting activity will be dominated from investors operating within the region.
Two thirds (66 per cent) of survey respondents revealed their intentions to invest across Asia Pacific over the next year, a modest lift on last year’s findings.
There’s also more opportunity set to come about on a global stage, with Mr Pilgrim pointing out how “globally, there’s a narrative that on-shore investment has increased, but in H1 2023, Singapore was the largest deployer of capital into global real estate with a majority proportion invested outside of Asia Pacific.
And while that may be considered cause for concern through more investment outflows than inflows, Mr Pilgrim doesn’t expect that to be the case, with a trend of cross-regional investment trend reciprocation continuing across the new year.
All-in-all, the managing director expects “APAC’s commercial property market will continue to uphold its strong position on the global stage over 2024 and contribute to a growing share of global investment activity.”
The trends set to dominate 2024
The report also outlined a number of trends and forecasts for the year ahead, including the fact that both established and emerging markets will be favoured by investors, office and industrial sectors will continue leading the charge, and there’s a rising awareness from investors that ESG can drive value whichneeds to be top of mind for players in the space.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Ormsby
Grace is a journalist across Momentum property and investment brands. Grace joined Momentum Media in 2018, bringing with her a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from the University of Newcastle. She’s passionate about delivering easy to digest information and content relevant to her key audiences and stakeholders.
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