APAC hospitality investments in 2013 highest in 5 years

HONG KONG - Cushman & Wakefield, Global Real Estate Consultancy, in their latest report on the hotel markets across 17 gateway cities and prime destinations in Asia and Australia, reported that hospitality investment market in theAsia Pacific reached a record high transaction volume of US$12.83 billion in 2013, the highest in the last 5 years and over 30% higher than 2012.

There had been a substantial weight of capital invested in the core markets withmainland China accounting for US$2.636 billion or 20.5% of the total investment volume,Singapore the second largest market at US$2.634 billion, followed byJapan at US$2.610 billion and Australia at US$2.271 billion. Hotel investments were also more widespread across the region in 2013, where emerging and non-core markets likeCambodia, Macau, Maldives saw some assets changing hands.

Akshay Kulkarni, Regional Director of Cushman & Wakefield's Hospitality Services forSouth Asia and Southeast Asia said: "Hospitality investment volume in 2013 more than doubled since 2008 and can be attributed to the excess liquidity, the low borrowing costs and the region's favourable tourism growth and outlook."

The cities included in the report are Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Bali, Seoul,Mumbai, National Capital Region (India), Bangkok, Shanghai, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Ho Chi Minh City, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane.

In the first half of 2014, total investment volume of hospitality assets reachedUS$5.203 billion, which is 9.5% higher compared to the same period last year. While the core markets ofJapan, Singapore, mainland China and Australia are still the most traded ones and constitute about 68.8% of the investment volume, other emerging markets such as Philippines, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Indonesia have experienced higher investment quantum compared to the same period last year. For 2014, Cushman & Wakefield expects the hospitality investment market to moderate, and likely to close atUS$9.0 to US$10.5 billion.

sourced:traveldailynews.asia