- Wealthy investors are being drawn to the Asian real estate market as retail sales and tourism activity rise.
- Investor and industry experts suggest that the retail property market could be set for a comeback.
- Asian real estate offers lucrative investments for international investors, high net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and institutional investors.
Asian retail property flows increased from $4.2bn in 2022 to $7.3bn in 2023, with HNWIs and international investors becoming attracted to the Asian real estate market due to its growth opportunities.
Despite a decrease across many Asian property markets in Q1 2023, retail property has seen a positive trend due to its relatively low pricing and increasing interest from wealthy international buyers. Industry experts also believe that institutional investors could experience a comparable resurgence in property.
Asian real estate investments offer a safe and lucrative return for HNWIs looking to invest in international property and for wealthy investors wishing to expand their portfolio.
According to the latest ‘APAC Capital Trends, Q1 2023’ by MSCI Real Assets, retail property investment in the Asia-Pacific region has increased. Investors are focusing on retail property rather than industrial property due to the perceived value of the asset class.
Based on figures from the March 2021 annual ‘Wealth Report’ by Knight Frank, and the year-on-year increase in retail investment from Q1 2019 to 2023, allocations of wealth by Asian HNWIs to retail are projected to continue rising.
As this trend continues, particularly in countries such as China, international HNWIs will require the use of online money transfer services when investing in the Asian property sector.
Ben Chow, vice president and head of real assets research Asia, for MSCI, surveyed a sample of HNWIs interested in or already involved in Asian capital. Chow suggested that HNWIs intending to invest in retail, either on their own or through family offices, rose from 24% in 2022 to 68% in 2023.
Knight Frank’s report showed that the demand for retail property from Asian HNWIs in 2023 was far higher than that of European and North American HNWIs.
Over the same period, however, the sample of Asian HNWIs who intended to purchase offices decreased from 49% to 37%. 33% of European HNWIs said that they planned to invest in the retail sector in 2023, an increase from the 32% reported in 2022. North American HNWIs followed at 38%, representing an increase from 30% in the same year.
HNWIs looking to invest in Asia’s rising retail and tourism sectors should use safe methods of money transfer when sending funds overseas.
HNWIs interested in investing in the Asian property market can use our online money transfer comparison tool to compare foreign exchange rates.
