To tap on the growing wealth and demand for real estate investments, JLL aims to expand its residential services in the Southeast Asian region,said media reports.
“At the moment, Asian investors in the global residential market are concentrated in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Beijing and Shanghai. Our goal is to expand the base of buyers into cities like Jakarta and Bangkok,” said Christopher Fossick, its Managing Director for Singapore and Southeast Asia.
“We would also like to expand into some Indian cities and Chinese cities,” he said, adding that they are also expecting more property deals from Australia, especially in Sydney and Melbourne.
Recently, the property consultancy acquired a 49 percent stake in YY Property Solutions, a Kuala Lumpur-based transaction and advisory firm, which is now known as JLL Malaysia.
The company decided to expand into the country in a bid to take advantage of the Malaysian government’s less stringent cap on foreign equity in the property sector, explained Fossick.
“This is not due to a change in market outlook or opportunities in Malaysia,” he said. “We are not taking short-term views. We think that Malaysia is a country that will continue to grow and provide opportunities.”
The Malaysian office will prioritise office rentals and investment sales in Kuala Lumpur, apart from residential sales services.
Singapore is still the company’s biggest Southeast Asian market. Although the republic’s housing sector is rather challenging at present, the appetite for office space in both centralised and decentralised locations is bolstered by balanced supply and stable corporate growth, he added.
Muneerah Bee, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email muneerah@propertyguru.com.sg
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