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Overall office gross absorption across the top six cities was at about 33 million sq feet, 10% higher compared to 2020. Pan-India absorption during the year surpassed the annual gross absorption during 2016-2018 by 7%, signalling a strong revival in occupier confidence.

This article was originally published in https://www.colliers.com/en-in

• In a year where a raft of measures were unleashed to contain the rate of infections as well as activity in the red-hot residential market, some S$7.3 billion of investment deals were recorded in Q4 2021, bringing the total for the whole year to S$25.8 billion. This reflected a growth of 5.3% from the total amount of S$24.5 billion last year.
• The investment volume in Q4 was primarily led by residential sales, amounting to about S$2.8 billion, as demand remained healthy for prime residential homes. This included the sale of a penthouse unit at Les Maisons Nassim for S$75 million (S$6,201 psf) in late October, as well as a Good Class Bungalow (GCB) within the Kilburn Estate GCB Area (GCBA) where it was reported that crypto billionaire Zhu Su was in the process of acquiring the detached house at S$48.8 million (S$1,532 psf on land).
• The collective sale market also started to gain momentum in Q4 2021, comprising five en bloc deals that were sealed from October to December. This included the sale of Peace Centre and Peace Mansion topping the list at S$650 million, acquired by a joint venture (JV) of CEL Development, Sing-Haiyi Crystal and Ultra Infinity. Watten Estate Condominium was sold for S$550.8 million to a UOL-SingLand JV. Despite the encouraging en bloc activity with homeowners of ageing projects growing increasingly hopeful, the imposition of cooling measures on 15 December 2021 has given pause to the market. In addition to the risks of escalating construction costs, developers also have to contend with pressure stemming from the increased Additional Buyers’ Stamp Duty (ABSD) rate for entities from 25% to 35%.

This article was originally published in https://www.knightfrank.com/

With the scheduled FOMC meeting slated to take place at the start of the month, Asia Pacific stocks were already bracing for a volatile ride from the get-go.

In a widely anticipated move, the Fed affirmed plans to dial back pandemic-era support for the economy, trimming asset purchases by US$15 billion a month. This puts the central bank on track to exit the program by mid-2022.

In the same mold, monetary authorities in South Korea and New Zealand also hiked its policy rates by another 25 basis points. While the moves were largely priced in, it presaged sentiment for the rest of the month.

The detection of the new Covid-19 Omicron variant – which health authorities observed as heavily mutated – sparked a sell off as investors raised alarms on the pandemic’s resurgence and its potential impact on economic growth. The region’s stocks, as measured by the MSCI Total Returns index, fell to its lowest from a year ago.

The region’s REITs were relatively more resilient, shedding 3% during the month to outperformed the region’s wider stock markets.

What will 2022 and the next decade bring? In recent years, climate change has come to surpass corporate governance as the most pressing ESG issue commanding investors’ attention, and ESG investing truly has gone mainstream (and is attracting the regulatory attention to prove it). Yet there are new risks emerging for companies, investors and the planet in the coming decade that will test how well we have learned the lessons of the past.

This report was originally published in https://www.msci.com/www/research-paper/2022-esg-trends-to-watch/02900617144