Commercial property investment across borders continues to be one of the hottest markets in the world at present, and Australia's property sector is in the thick of things, according to experts in the market.
According to property agency CBRE, the first six months of 2015 saw some $US407 billion ($561.4 billion) of deals struck worldwide in the commercial property sector alone. This was a rise of some 14 per cent when compared to the same six-month period at the start of last year.
That made the first-half the strongest since 2007, marking a true recovery in terms of commercial property from the financial downturn that affected the market as a whole in the past few years. And Australia has been one of the most important nations worldwide in terms of attracting investment in this area.
In the first half of 2015, Australia was the fifth-most popular nation for commercial purchases, with offshore investors snapping up $US10.3 billion worth of sales. Perhaps more surprising was the fact that Sydney has ranked so highly all on its own. The city has come in behind just London, New York and Paris, the three powerhouses in world real estate, showing just how strong it has been in the last few years.
Melbourne is also keeping pace well with Sydney, becoming the sixth most popular site in the world for commercial property investment this year.
Mark Grantner, executive managing director at CBRE Australia said that such strong performance in just six months at the start of the year shows how strong Australia has been as a whole in the property market, adding that it is now looking certain to surpass commercial property investment levels for 2014 by the end of the year.
"The wave of money coming in is not only a Chinese story, it's not only an Asian story, it is a story about foreign capital being attracted to Australia," he said.
"We've always had a lot of interest from European funds, particularly from Germany, and from Singapore and Malaysia. We're seeing increased interest come from America, but the Chinese interest is certainly a much bigger factor than ever before."
