By Estela Lopez of Project Pegasus Inc.
Owning real estate in Asia, is an exciting concept for many savvy investors keeping a close eye on the current property boom in China, and other regions. Asia is a vast continent which includes some of the world’s fastest growing economies including China and India. This region of the globe includes many countries that are either just rising on the international scene or will rise as their economies continue to develop.
Asia Pacific’s volume at $49.9 billion, is excluding China, still a significant transaction volume in this marketplace. As in China, though, development rights sales drove volume in most of the seven countries in this zone that vie for most of the non-China-targeted investment dollars, whether domestic or cross-border: Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and India, each of which exceeded $1 billion in sales through November.
Because the Chinese real estate market is in its infancy having only truly been established in the mid 1990s, the official real estate buying process is relatively poorly documented and property investors can find it quite a struggle to get a definitive answer about how the purchase process will proceed. The key to making a successful real estate investment in China is to secure local legal representation before even beginning the hunt for property to suit specific investment requirements. In addition to mainland China’s current boom, Hong Kong’s attractiveness proved sustainable throughout 2009, in October, a single condominium unit sold for $57 million, about $9, 200 per sq ft. Hong Kong’s economy is experiencing an enviable recovery that has produced sales volume through November of $7.5 billion, derived mainly from $2.9 billion in office sales and $2.5 billion in retail property sales. Private investors dominate the market with nearly 70 percent of transactions.
In India, according to a Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM) survey, the most viable cities in terms of residential investment potential currently are Gurgaon and Noida in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad. The average price of condominiums in South Mumbai was US$9,542 per sq. m. in Q1 2009, according to the Global Property Guide - a price normally found only in first the world’s leading cities. Delhi, the capital of India, is home to almost 18 million residents. The city will host the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Construction and improvement of infrastructure is ongoing as the city rushes to finish the facilities.
Asia Pacific’s volume at $49.9 billion, is excluding China, still a significant transaction volume in this marketplace. As in China, though, development rights sales drove volume in most of the seven countries in this zone that vie for most of the non-China-targeted investment dollars, whether domestic or cross-border: Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and India, each of which exceeded $1 billion in sales through November.
Because the Chinese real estate market is in its infancy having only truly been established in the mid 1990s, the official real estate buying process is relatively poorly documented and property investors can find it quite a struggle to get a definitive answer about how the purchase process will proceed. The key to making a successful real estate investment in China is to secure local legal representation before even beginning the hunt for property to suit specific investment requirements. In addition to mainland China’s current boom, Hong Kong’s attractiveness proved sustainable throughout 2009, in October, a single condominium unit sold for $57 million, about $9, 200 per sq ft. Hong Kong’s economy is experiencing an enviable recovery that has produced sales volume through November of $7.5 billion, derived mainly from $2.9 billion in office sales and $2.5 billion in retail property sales. Private investors dominate the market with nearly 70 percent of transactions.
In India, according to a Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM) survey, the most viable cities in terms of residential investment potential currently are Gurgaon and Noida in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad. The average price of condominiums in South Mumbai was US$9,542 per sq. m. in Q1 2009, according to the Global Property Guide - a price normally found only in first the world’s leading cities. Delhi, the capital of India, is home to almost 18 million residents. The city will host the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Construction and improvement of infrastructure is ongoing as the city rushes to finish the facilities.
