As was the case for most of 2013, global real estate markets exhibited heightened volatility as the markets careened around due to the mixed economic and interest rate environment. With linkages across countries and continents, as well as facing country-specific policy measures, the Asia Pacific region partook in that global volatility throughout 2013 and into December. In December, according to SNL Financial, Asia Pacific real estate stocks were down 2.1 percent, marking the seventh time during 2013 that the Asia Pacific market exhibited total returns — whether positive or negative — that were greater than 2 percentage points. The negative December returns put full-year 2013 returns slightly in the red, at 0.2 percent, and caused the region to fall further behind 2013 global real estate returns of 6.0 percent, with regional returns denominated back to US dollars and country returns in local currency.
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