Shrugging off a volatile and weak end to 2016, both Asia Pacific and global property stocks started 2017 strongly, with the markets returning 4.6 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively, during the month of January. The strong month reversed three consecutive prior months of negative returns and was likely due to a stabilisation in yields and overall stronger growth coming from various part of the globe, including the United Kingdom, continental Europe and China (based on SNL Financial data, with quoted country returns in local currency, and regional indexes quoted in US dollars). This compares with global stock total returns of 2.3 percent in January, as per the MSCI World Index.

On a country basis, Chinese property stocks had a relatively-subdued month, up 0.6 percent after an 11.4 percent decline in December 2016 and a 23.0 percent increase this past November (based on the Shanghai Property Composite Index). In general, the economic environment looks to be stable, with G