Seoul property transactions hit US$15.4b in January-September

It takes the top spot as Asia’s most liquid city in terms of property.

Seoul is Asia’s most liquid city in terms of real estate with US$15.4b (KRW$18.1t) of transactions made in the first three quarters of 2019, according to a JLL report.

The city led Asia Pacific’s commercial real estate transaction volumes in Q3, which reached a record-high of US$128b, representing a 10% increase from 2018.

Shanghai also made waves with investments amounting to US$14.4b YTD with US3.5b in Q3. It was the largest recipient of cross-border investments in APAC, edging out Singapore and Sydney, and third globally after Paris and London.

Singapore’s office real estate was the world’s strongest with volumes ballooning over 175% YoY due to rental growth and net absorption, driven by the US$1.15b acquisition of the Duo Tower by Allianz and Gaw Capital back in July.

Sydney was the third largest recipient of cross-border investment in APAC, including Blackstone’s US$1.1b purchase of office assets from Scentre Group in Q2. Canadian pension funds and Singaporean groups comprised foreign investments in the city in Q3, with YTD cross-border capital inflows at US$3.5b, 88% higher than last year.

APAC markets were also amongst the biggest capital sources for cross-border investments in the first nine months of 2019, with Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong ranked in the top ten.

JLL expects APAC’s 2019 commercial real estate investments to grow 13% YoY, indicating further acceleration in Q4.

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