China’s current housing market seems contradictory at first glance. On one hand, official statistics show accelerating price growth. But on the other hand, analysts and major developers warn of a “coming winter”, a recession for residential property and tough times for developers. How can investors reconcile these seemingly-competing views of the market?
It has been 20 years since China opened its nonperforming-loan market to foreign investors. Like any fad that occasionally makes a comeback, once again it seems pundits are advising foreign investors to take a hard look at investing in Chinese NPLs. Will the nascent NPL market finally make a recovery, and will foreign investors finally get to buy NPLs at market-clearing prices?
Signs point to a slowing global economy, with the ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China continuing to rattle world markets, although potential negotiations progress appeared in late February. As investors grapple with these events, Institutional Real Estate Asia Pacific senior editor Jennifer Molloy recently asked a number of experts on China their opinions about the country’s property markets and prospects for the future.
The boom of Chinese investment in US commercial real estate, which lasted from 2014–2017, has been largely curtailed by China’s enactment of foreign exchange currency controls.
From technology to economics, connection was the theme at Institutional Real Estate, Inc’s 2019 Visions, Insights & Perspectives (VIP) Americas conference in Carlsbad, California, this January. One message from keynote speakers and panelists was that human connections with family and friends will drive economic growth and real estate demand.
New York City ranked first in an index measuring 30 global tech-heavy cities analysed by Savills, with San Francisco in second place and London third. In addition, five mainland Chinese cities entered the index rankings for the first time.
After racing out the gate to start 2019 on record pace, both Asia Pacific and global property stocks took a pause in February. The reduced performance of 0.2 percent and –1.2 percent, respectively, during the month primarily was driven by a more pronounced risk-off trade within the equities market due to reduced trade tensions between China and the United States — as well as supportive monetary policies, particularly in the United States and China.