Rents in Hong Kong’s prime retail market remain among the most expensive in the world, ranking first in fourth quarter 2012 at US$46,662 per square metre per year, well ahead of New York City and London, which rank second and third, respectively, in CBRE Global Research and Consulting’s fourth quarter 2012 Global Retail View.

Australian retail assets are getting a lot of attention from institutional investors. 

Asia Pacific listed real estate companies were down in February, posting slight negative returns of –0.7 percent, according to SNL Financial, with regional returns denominated back to US dollars and country returns in local currency. 

Investment managers around the globe successfully closed fundraising on 86 real estate funds in 2012, raising US$56.9 billion, the highest total since the market peak in 2008 when fundraising activity reached nearly US$135 billion, according to Institutional Real Estate FundTracker. 

There are stark variations in performance across regions and property types, according to the Global Cities Index’s third-quarter results. 

While economic data coming out of China continues to improve, it is by no means guaranteed that the world’s second largest economy is safely on the road to recovery. 

China, as with every modernising nation before, now faces a fundamental urban challenge: how to provide affordable housing for lower- and middle-class people, particularly in a way that enhances commuting and quality of life.