APAC leads Q1 global development site investments

Four countries from Asia Pacific ranked among the top five global development site investments.

Asia Pacific continues to dominate the global landscape for land and development site investments, with four of the top five destinations in the first quarter of 2024 located in the region, according to a recent report by Colliers. 

The report underscores the region's strategic importance, with China, Singapore, Australia, and India emerging as preferred locales for international investors.

Chris Pilgrim, Managing Director at Colliers Asia Pacific, said, "Supply per capita in Asia Pacific is generally much lower than we see in other more developed markets. There’s a real opportunity to develop more real estate as we move into the next cycle." 

The report noted a substantial investment of $5.2 billion in these core markets, emphasising the region's potent blend of opportunity and value.

Regarding standing assets, China and Japan were ranked third and fourth globally. Pilgrim pointed out that both countries offer unique advantages: "China and Japan are at very different spectrums. A lot of the Chinese cross-border capital we see really comes from Hong Kong... Japan has really represented probably the best market, certainly within Asia Pacific, if not globally."

Pilgrim also discussed the significance of India and Singapore in attracting development capital. Singapore attracted about $450 million US dollars in the land development market alone, reflecting robust investor confidence. 

"Singapore shows the robustness of its market where there's huge opportunity, particularly in the residential and commercial sectors, but also in growing sectors like logistics and data centres," he stated. India, meanwhile, presents a huge opportunity for development, particularly in logistics and office markets.

The high rankings of China and Japan in terms of cross-border capital investments for standing assets globally reflect broader economic trends. "This quarter has been really interesting to see generally more global capital being deployed into other markets... it's a really good sign of recovery as we generally come out of some of these economic headwinds we've discussed over the last couple of years," Pilgrim noted. He emphasised the role of these investments in signalling a recovery phase, where Asia Pacific benefits from its strategic positioning in the global market.