With some of the fastest growing economies in the world, the countries of Asia present a myriad of investment opportunities for real estate investors. As with Europe, Asia is not a homogeneous market. As with anywhere where there are a number of markets at different points of the cycle and at different stages of development, Asia has ups and downs and ins and outs. It is these ups and downs and ins and outs that provide opportunity. Even in a global market that is facing challenging credit crunch–related conditions, the opportunity offered by real estate investments in Asia stands out.

The real estate investment market in the United Kingdom routinely figures in the Top Five most transparent markets worldwide — as rated by Jones Lang LaSalle. Up there also in top positions are Australia, New Zealand and the United States, with mainland European markets in France, the Netherlands and Sweden also included in the Top 10.

Last year there was a 56 percent increase in the volume of global hotel transactions to nearly $113 billion (€71.5 billion), compared with $72.5 billion (€45.9 billion) in 2006, a figure that excludes The Blackstone Group’s acquisition of Hilton Hotels Corp. for $26 billion (€16.4 billion) and certain corporate transactions that are considered anomalies. In the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, transactions were down by 13 percent compared to the previous year, to $24.5 billion (€15.5 billion); this was driven by unprecedented portfolio transactions, according to the Hotel Investment Outlook 2008that Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels published in January.