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The Greater Bay Area (GBA) has undergone rapid development in recent years, particularly in infrastructure and transportation network enhancement. Outline Development Plan for GBA issued by the Central government shows the Chinese government’s commitment to improving capital flows throughout the region, which will benefit Hong Kong, specifically the office market.

According to Knight Frank's in-house data, interviews from landlords, as well as information from tenants and agency practitioners, Biomedical, Family office, TMT and Emerging and high-growth Chinese companies are the four new potential Chinese mainland businesses to come to the Hong Kong market.

In this report, Knight Frank has identified three emerging office hubs in Kowloon that have greater potential to reap the benefits brought by the development of the GBA.

• Kai Tak Development Node – it is well connected to cities in GBA via the Intercity Through Train;
• Cheung Sha Wan – Lai Chi Kok – the upcoming notable new office supply in Cheung Sha Wan and Lai Chi Kok area will transform it into one of the largest office hubs in western Kowloon;
• CBD1.5-XRL Station – given the large scale of development, prestigious location and unique positioning, the West Kowloon Cultural District together with the XRL topside project will become an important up and coming office hub in Hong Kong.

Looking ahead, GBA will continue to gather momentums to develop into a world-class city cluster, and Knight Frank expects leasing demand from Chinese Enterprises to rebound and keep rising upon the reopening of the border.

This report was originally published in https://www.knightfrank.com/research/report-library/greater-bay-area-development-report-june-2022-9110.aspx

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Cushman & Wakefield’s 2021-2022 Asia REIT Market Insight report investigates the burgeoning Real Estate Investment Trust market in Asia, examining the primary drivers and state of play in key markets mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Japan and Singapore.

The report reveals that, backed by robust capital structures, sufficient financial liquidity, and supportive regulatory policies, REITs continue to gain overall momentum as the pandemic subsides with logistics/industrial and data centre REITs outperforming more traditional asset classes.

Key highlights:

• Asia market REITs recovered strongly during 2021 after demonstrating notable resilience through the peak of the COVID-19 period, supported by new economy asset classes.
• Industrial and logistics REITs in the Asia market showed the greatest resilience, recording a total return of 24.7 percent, as all other asset classes achieved positive returns.
• Supply chain uncertainties are creating demand as operators accumulate reserves of warehouse space.
• Mature REIT markets can expect to see greater M&A activity through the remainder of 2022 while developing markets can expect to see growth of REITs accelerate.

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Concerns about inflation and slowing economic growth continued to depress capital markets in April. The U.S. reading for inflation hit 8.5% in March, the highest since 1981, recalling an era when interest rates were raised to near 20% under then Fed Chairman Paul Volcker. Markets came under pressure as escalating inflationary pressures are raising the likelihood of more aggressive rate hikes. This pushed the greenback to finish the month near two-decade highs. Monetary authorities in South Korea and Singapore also announced tightening moves. South Korea’s rate decision came after New Zealand delivered a larger-than-expected 50 basis point hike as more central banks across the region made preemptive announcements to shift their focus to fight surging inflation. The recent Covid-19 lockdown of Shanghai also led to concerns about China’s economic growth outlook and the potential for further global supply chain disruptions. With developments clouding global economic prospects, investors endured a torrid April. Total returns from Asia Pacific stocks, as tracked by MSCI, ended in the red. However, the region’s property stocks dealt with the volatility better, recording lower declines to outperform the wider equity market.

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Please find below the rebalancing results (effective 20 June 2022 start of trading) for the:

• GPR/APREA Investable 100 Index
• GPR/APREA Investable REIT 100 Index
• GPR/APREA Composite Index

GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index (indicated with an asterisk)

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