Every quarter, MSCI publishes a ranking of the most actively traded cities in Asia’s commercial property investment market. As recently as 2022, the most widely traded metropolises included major capitals such as Tokyo and Seoul, as well as leading cities such as Shanghai and Sydney.
Fast forward to 2024 and the ranking was more diverse. Chiba, the prefecture just east of Tokyo, and Osaka, Japan’s third-biggest city, were among the top 10 for the whole of last year. Moreover, in the first quarter of this year, Incheon, South Korea’s third-largest city, was the 10th-most widely traded market, while Hyderabad, one of India’s largest cities, took the 13th spot last year.
There are several factors at work. One of them is the increase in development and investment activity in less mature property sectors. Industrial and logistics real estate, including data centres, accounted for 35 per cent of transactions of income-producing properties in the Asia-Pacific region last year.The growth of the sector has reshaped the region’s commercial property landscape, helping put regional and less-established markets on the map as demand for warehouses and digital infrastructure intensifies. The development of a professionally managed rental housing sector – which is in its infancy outside Japan – will have a similar effect.A more important factor, however, is the breadth, depth and increasing sophistication of Asia’s real estate industry, especially in the biggest economies where large urban centres are plentiful. To spot the big themes and trends in Asian property, it is important to look beyond the most widely traded cities.
A good example is Bengaluru. It is widely known that India is the engine of leasing activity in Asia’s office market. Less appreciated, however, is the extent to which Bengaluru, which has long been the country’s technology hub, is fuelling this growth.
Software professionals arrive to attend the 2025 Artificial Intelligence Developers Conference and Expo in Bengaluru, India, on March 26. Photo: EPA-EFE
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