Market Data

International Beat

Australia’s Big Deal

Houston-based Hines Global REIT purchased its first Australian property in Brisbane: an unassuming 158,682-sf, six-story office building for $91.6 million. The attraction? It’s fully leased through 2021 as the headquarters of global engineering firm Ausenco. Beyond that, Australia itself is an attraction, offering transparent real estate markets and uncompressed cap rates, according to Hines president and CEO Charles Hazen. He’s not the only shopper: Foreign investors purchased nearly 30 percent of the $6.6 billion of office towers sold Down Under last year, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.

“The vast market potential of the Chinese hotel industry remains unquestioned.”

—Tim Soper, vice president of operations for Greater China and Mongolia at Hilton Worldwide

Hotels in China

Wyndam Hotel Group 500

Marriott International 57

Hilton Worldwide 30

Source: HotelNewsNow.com

Markets to Watch

Foreign investors accounted for 98 percent of Poland’s 1Q12 real estate buys, which totaled €728 million, up 21 percent YOY. U.S., Austrian, German, and U.K. investors led the way, according to Savills research. Retail made up 80 percent of 1Q12’s transactions. High tenant demand for retail in Warsaw and a tight pipeline for the next two years pushed vacancies down to 0.8 percent in 1Q12, according to CBRE. But investors are attracted by Poland’s strong GDP and healthy consumer confidence — two qualities not found often in Europe today.

GDP growth in the Asia-Pacific region will average around 5.3 percent, down from 6.0 percent last year, due to fewer exports to Europe and the U.S. as well as China’s weaker economy, according to Cushman & Wakefield. However healthy leasing and limited supply should push up office rents in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as Taipei, Jakarta, Melbourne, and Sydney.