A visitor (left) gathers housing information from an employee of Zhuge Real Estate Agency Co Ltd during a real estate exhibition fair held in Beijing. [A JING/FOR CHINA DAILY]
Healthier environment drives sector for cold storage, offices, shopping centers
As China’s response to COVID-19 enters a new phase and market confidence recovers, the nascent economic recovery is expected to boost demand for all types of commercial properties in China, industry experts said.
“Consensus has been reached that China’s economic growth is a priority for the world in 2023, and capital markets are making preparations for entering the China market via many channels,” said Lu Qiang, executive director for capital markets of East China with Cushman & Wakefield, a global real estate services firm.
“Given the relaxation of China’s COVID-19 control measures, the general economy is expected to recover in 2023. In terms of the real estate market, economic recovery is expected to boost leasing and investment demand across all property types as market confidence returns,” explained Shaun Brodie, senior director and head of occupier research of China at Cushman & Wakefield.
Additionally, emphasis will be further placed on high quality, smart and sustainable real estate development across cities in China, Brodie said.
“These are positive catalysts for the recovery and long-term development of commercial properties such as offices, shopping malls and industrial properties such as business parks and logistic facilities,” said Pang Ming, chief economist with global real estate consultant JLL China.
Such an outlook bucks the trend for the Asia-Pacific region of a fall between 5 and 10 percent in real estate investment volume in 2023, according to research from JLL.
The sliding forecast is based on tumultuous economic and financing conditions weighing on sentiment, and the region witnessed a year-on-year decline of 25 percent