Real estate transaction volumes in the Asia Pacific region have recovered following a significant decline in the second quarter, jumping 44 percent to $20.8 billion in the third quarter, according to a recent report.
Global transaction volumes also picked up in Q3, up 15 percent over Q2, following a 13 percent decline over the previous two quarters. This has helped boost transaction volumes to $303 billion for the past 12 months, up 47 percent in the previous 12 months.
The Asia Pacific region contributed 26 percent of global volumes in Q3, higher than the 21 percent in Q2 but below the 29 percent in Q1.
The decline in Asia Pacific’s transaction volume in Q2 was mainly attributed to the cooling measures announced by China, which led to an 81 percent drop in China’s transaction volumes in Q2 from Q1. While transactions in China climbed 188 percent in Q3 from Q2, volumes remained only 56 percent of the levels in Q1.
Despite a decline in the second quarter, Australia has recorded a buoyant transaction activity in the past 12 months, with $3.8 billion transaction volumes seen in Q3. This is the highest level recorded since 2007.
Meanwhile, Singapore saw a 35 percent increase in transaction volumes to $2.3 billion in Q3, achieving its 6th straight quarterly growth.
The office sector still leads in transaction volumes, with $9.9 billion recorded in Q3, representing 48 percent of the total transaction volumes in the Asia Pacific region. While the retail sector drove the recovery in Q3, with volumes up 158 percent, the retail property sector also led to the decline in Q2.
The Asia Pacific also saw mixed movements in cap rates over the quarter, with office, hotel and industrial cap rates all showing definite softening while apartment and retail cap rates continue to be firm.