China takes top spot for private equity property investment in Asia in Q1, while Hong Kong finds itself in dogfight with India
- Hong Kong places third in Asia for PE property investment in Q1, outpaced by India
- In mainland, office segment favoured; in Hong Kong, community malls prove popular
Global private equity funds – the most agile investor in the cross-border real estate world – poured US$5.1 billion into China and Hong Kong property in the first quarter of this year, making the spots the top and third most favoured destinations respectively in Asia, according to Knight Frank.
China absorbed US$3.6 billion of private equity capital in the first quarter while Hong Kong took in US$1.53 billion. By comparison, $1.56 billion went to second-placed India and $1.3 billion to Japan, according to a report by the global real estate service firm released on Monday.
The quarter means China has already surpassed its PE property investment for all of 2018 – US$2.99 billion – while Hong Kong is well on its way to its US$3.22 billion for the full-year period, according to numbers provided by Knight Frank.
“PE investment acts as a leading indicator for cross-border capital flows. Traditional players like insurers, sovereign funds, corporation may trump it in deal value, but PE investments are most agile in sniffing the latest trend,” said David Ji, head of research & consultancy of Knight Frank Greater China.
