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• Tenant enquiries and site visits increased in the surveyed period, largely driven by the retail and industrial sector. Activity in mainland China continued to be constrained by strict pandemic-related measures.

• Demand for both traditional and flex office space cooled as many occupiers switched to wait-and-see mode amidst the dimmer economic outlook. The appetite from industrial sector also decreased as respondents saw more consolidations.

• While the outlook for rents in Korea, Singapore and Australia turns more positive in the surveyed period, lagging markets like mainland China also expected a slower rental decline.

• Regional leasing sentiment remained largely stable. Although mainland China was the weakest performer, a more positive outlook is expected along with recent relaxation of zero COVID policy. Landlord strength continued to decline as the market shifted further in favour of tenants.

This report was originally published in https://www.cbre.com/insights/briefs/asia-pacific-market-sentiment-survey-december-2022

Asia Pacific’s key office markets tell a story of resilience overall, with steady demand in some markets, surging supply in others – and some cities in India experiencing both surging demand and supply.

As has been the case since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Asia Pacific office market continues to demonstrate its resilience. Fully 153 million square feet (msf) of office space has been absorbed across the region’s top 25 markets since the end of 2019, with 47msf of that occurring in the first nine months of 2022. Indeed, Asia Pacific continues to be the only region to record consecutive quarters of positive net absorption throughout the pandemic.

The broad outlook is for this to continue, though inevitably with nuance at the local level. Full-year office demand in 2022 is expected to reach 65msf, on par with the 63msf absorbed in 2021 and well above the pandemic lows of 2020. A modest improvement is forecast in 2023, with net absorption projected to reach 71msf (+9% y-o-y), before growth stabilises at around 5% per annum through to 2026. While this represents robust demand, it comes at a time of heightened supply as projects that were delayed in the early period of the pandemic regain momentum. Following the 112msf of new supply in 2022, a further 130msf is expected to be delivered in 2023 before slowing to less than 100msf from 2024 onwards. Inevitably, with supply outstripping demand in the near-term, regional vacancy is forecast to soften further, rising from 12.5% pre-pandemic to reach a little over 18% in 2023, after which it is expected to hold steady.

The large-scale trends shaping the ESG investing world have become well recognized: climate change risk and the road to net zero, the growing existential threat of biodiversity loss, social inequalities, regulation and, lately, debate and controversy over greenwashing and what ESG should be.

Against a backdrop of a war in Europe, inflation, energy markets in turmoil, political uncertainty and an unending stream of climate-induced disasters, MSCI's ESG and Climate Trends to Watch for 2023 report takes a closer look at how some of the major developments may shape the investment environment and impact the challenges and opportunities for companies.

This report was originally published in https://www.msci.com/research-and-insights/2023-esg-climate-trends-to-watch

In the first survey of its kind, CBRE polled more than 20,000 people worldwide – from Gen Z to Baby Boomers – earlier this year to understand how they will live, work and shop in the future, and how this will impact the real estate they use. Included in the survey were around 9,000 respondents from Asia Pacific.

The survey findings revealed fresh insights that can be harnessed to inform real estate occupier and investor strategies, and ensure that real estate is positioned to meet users’ evolving needs.