The Australian real estate market continues to present a compelling proposition for global investors. With a stable macroeconomic environment, a transparent legal system and consistent institutional oversight, Australia remains one of the more resilient property markets in the Asia Pacific region.

In recent years, private market investments have been promoted as solutions to almost every portfolio challenge. They are described as sources of enhanced return, reliable income, diversification and insulation from public market volatility. In some environments, these claims are defensible. In others, they are not.

Capital raising for nonlisted real estate in Asia Pacific declined in 2025, diverging from a modest global recovery, as global fundraising began to stabilise following a cyclical downturn, according to the latest 2026 Capital Raising Survey by ANREV, INREV and NCREIF.

Singaporean REIT CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT), has agreed to acquire a 100 percent interest in Paragon, a premier freehold integrated development along Orchard Road comprising retail, office and medical suites, from Cuscadean Peak for an agreed property value of S$3.9 billion (US$2.3 billion).

The global build-out of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure will require up to US$1.6 trillion in the next five years, with access to power, not capital, now the primary constraint on growth, according to Knight Frank.

Real estate can play a role in defined contribution (DC) plans — but only a limited, carefully designed one. While decades of academic research support real estate as a diversifier in institutional portfolios, that evidence translates unevenly into participant-directed DC environments.

After two months of strong momentum, the surge in Asia Pacific listed real estate came to an abrupt halt as the sector suffered a sharp correction in March 2026. As a result, Asia Pacific real estate securities finished the first quarter 4.43 percent lower, according to the GPR/APREA Composite Index.

The Australian market experienced a volatile first quarter of 2026. Much like other global markets, the sector suffered large losses in late February and March following the US attacks in Iran and the consequential effects on the world economy.

In a sponsored report published in the June issue of Institutional Real Estate Asia Pacific, Actis’ Praveen Kumar and Raghvendra Chandak, Principals, Real Estate and Data Centres, describe the dynamics transforming India’s commercial real estate market into core economic infrastructure for a rapidly expanding economy, and the enterprising strategy Actis executed in building a platform that is now in a prime position to capitalize on India’s enormous growth potential.

In a sponsored interview published in the June issue of Institutional Real Estate Asia Pacific, Fergal Harris, managing director of the Global Investors Group (Affinius’ capital-raising division), discusses the perspectives he has seen from the standpoint of Australian investors looking at the current global real estate market, the reasons for their continued long-term interest in American and European markets despite recent political volatility, and how Affinius Capital can meet their needs.