Australia emerges as leader of Asia Pacific market

Asia Pacific transactions were down 19 percent year-on-year in the second quarter to $34.4 billion, with the U.S.-China trade war and global economic slowdown weighing on confidence, according to Real Capital Analytics’ (RCA) Asia Pacific Capital Trends Q2 report.

Australia has emerged as a leader, totaling $8.4 billion in the quarter, a 13 percent year-over-year increase, and recording a first-half total of $11.9 billion, a 3 percent year-over-year increase.

Hong Kong, which is continuously being impacted by political uncertainty, followed in second. The city had the highest negative year-over-year change, falling 46 percent, with a total of $10.6 billion in transactions during the first half of 2019. Overall second quarter volume was at $6 billion, also a 46 percent year-over-year drop.

In China and Japan, quarterly investment volumes fell to the lowest levels in a decade, as both domestic and cross-border investment flows dried up. Transactions in