Investment in Hong Kong’s commercial property more than tripled in the third quarter from a year earlier, making it the second-fastest growing market in the Asia-Pacific region amid rising confidence in the city’s bruised real estate sector, according to MSCI.
Some US$4.9 billion was pumped into offices, data centres, retail spaces, hotels and senior housing in the September quarter, a year-on-year increase of 231 per cent, according to the data services provider, which compiled deals worth at least US$10 million. The investment was also the highest for any quarter since 2019, the New York-based company said.
Malaysia was the region’s stand-out real estate market, with investments jumping 1,753 per cent to US$3.4 billion in the same period.
“Major transactions [in Hong Kong] spanned both office and data centre assets, while a recent pickup in capital inflows from China points to a gradual restoration of confidence in the market,” MSCI said.
The surge in activity followed years of falling asset prices as landlords and investors struggled to meet financing costs when interest rates soared to the highest level since December 2007, after the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) lifted rates on 11 occasions.
