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.