CRE Markets Across the Globe Are a Mixed Bag

Tarrant Parsons, Senior Economist, RICS. Image courtesy of RICS

Worldwide, commercial real estate activity is still struggling for momentum, but the first signs of a turnaround can be seen in select regions. According to the first quarter Global Commercial Property Monitor released by The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in London, only 54 percent of the survey respondents globally view their real estate market as being in a downturn, compared to 62 percent in the previous quarter.

Tarrant Parsons, senior economist with RICS, told Commercial Property Executive Senior Editor Laura Calugar that the latest set of results show that both investors and occupiers across the world are still relatively cautious, despite the tentative signs of improvement in some economies.

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The Middle East and Africa region continues to perform relatively strong, driven by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. APAC, however, is where the most substantial improvement can be seen, due to sentiment picking up significantly in mainland China and Hong Kong. Nevertheless, there are two parts in this region that seem to be moving in the other direction: Australia and New Zealand, which have seen a drop in investor activity. That is more in line with what is happening in Europe, where the more mature markets are still struggling. The U.S. is one of the high-profile markets where real estate sentiment has moved further into negative territory over the past quarter, driven by concerns over the banking sector.

Press play to hear all about the contrasting views of the real estate market around the world! Here’s a sample of the topics discussed in this podcast episode: