The office sector in Australia has been besieged on all fronts since the start of COVID-19. While the initial effects were pandemic-driven, a number of structural headwinds have further weakened the sector.

The most common complaint I hear from CIOs and real estate investment officers around the globe is that they are overwhelmed by the demands on their time. This is true even for those blessed with large staffs — although for most of you, you are also plagued with a lack of sufficient staff resources.

“Without data, AI is useless,” said Hamid Moghadam, chairman and CEO of Prologis, during the Groundbreakers event hosted by Prologis on 27 September in San Francisco.

GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, has sold back its 49 percent stake in Sydney mall Chatswood Chase to Vicinity Centres for A$307 million (US$195 million), representing a 45 percent discount from the A$562 million (US$356 million) GIC paid Vicinity Centres for the stake six years ago, according to The Australian Financial Review.

South Korea’s Public Officials Benefit Association (POBA) has committed US$100 million to a vehicle of 3650 REIT, a US commercial real estate lender originating and managing portfolio loans for institutional investors. The vehicle employs 3650’s US-based bridge and event-driven (BED) lending strategy.

Annual investment volume in multifamily residential assets in Asia Pacific is expected to more than double in size by 2030, with investments to potentially cross US$20 billion by the end of the decade, according to an October 2023 report from JLL, Multifamily in motion: A deep dive into Asia Pacific’s living sector.

Prime office rents in Asia Pacific showed a moderation in rental decline in the third quarter of 2023, declining 1.3 percent year-on-year and down from the 1.5 percent drop observed in the second quarter, according to Knight Frank’s Asia-Pacific Prime Office Rental Index.