Global equity and property markets did a double take and then retreated on the last day of July, after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s central bank first cut its policy rate by only 0.25 percent and then indicated that even a “one and done” scenario might suffice. In short, a possibly meager monetary stimulus might prevail.

For example, the Vanguard Global ex-US Real Estate ETF, a proxy for non-US property markets, declined in trading by 1.40 percent on 31 July.

With global economies slowing against the backdrop of ongoing trade tensions between Beijing and Washington, DC, leading Asia Pacific institutional property investors are eyeing closely the response from the world’s major central banks, especially the Federal Reserve. While nations can engage in “fiscal stimulus”, or the running of national budget deficits to boost spending, most governments already feel overindebted, including Japan.

Though some macroeconomic mavens are pushing f