Global commercial property upswing continues

Article Type: Newsbriefs From: Structural Survey, Volume 28, Issue 5

Keywords: Commercial services, Property

The latest Global Commercial Property Survey (GCPS) from RICS provides further evidence that the recovery in real estate markets around the world continues to gain traction. The number of investment transactions rose compared with the fourth quarter of last year in all but a handful of markets, and this increase in demand is gradually translating through into stronger growth in capital values. The occupier market is also beginning to see a shift in sentiment, although rents are still falling in the majority of countries covered in the GCPS, reflecting the still hesitant nature of the economic recovery in many parts of the world. The clear leaders in the real estate cycle from a regional perspective, according to the latest RICS results, are Latin America and Asia. This is the case both from an investment and an occupier perspective and consistent with many of these economies proving relatively resilient through the credit crisis. Brazil recorded the most positive net balance on rent expectations in the survey and was near the top in terms of capital value expectations. Hong Kong and China also registered strongly positive net balance readings for both of these forward looking indicators. Significantly, Brazil and Hong Kong were two of the four countries where respondents to the GCPS indicated that the available supply of property for occupation is not increasing. Commercial property transactions rose across the majority of the globe in Q1 2010 with Peru, Brazil and Singapore leading the way.