At the start of this year it looked like the world had seen the worst of the Euro woes, and we here in Asia Pacific could stop peering over our shoulders. Alas, of late the spectre is back on the radar, and the only thing the markets like less than bad news is uncertainty.
We’ve already seen bailouts for Portugal, Ireland and Greece, so it was no surprise that the next worry was, “what do we do with Spain?” As the fifth largest economy in Europe and the fourth largest in the Eurozone, the markets were quick to experience a brief rebound in Asia Pacific on the back of an announcement of a rescue package of Euro100 billion from the EU rescue funds to recapitalise Spain’s banks.
So what’s next? Well, there’s never a dull moment these days in the global economy. The next round of Greek elections on the 17th of June could well spell the start of an abrupt end to the single currency in one country at least, and what the knock on effect of this would be on the rest of the world, nobody can be sure.
We really do operate in a global world and what’s interesting from my side is how this uncertainty in Europe translates into opportunities for me in my interactions with our Real Estate Intelligence Service (REIS) clients and potential clients here in Asia Pacific. In the last couple of quarters I’ve seen much more in the way of enquiries to purchase our services from new clients. These enquiries come from two categories; large international investors and operators already invested in AP who are looking to get access to better data to improve their benchmarking and their due diligence; secondly from international firms looking to enter or expand in Asia Pacific to enable them to harness the stronger growth and opportunities present here. Greece in the Euro or no Greece in the Euro, there’s no getting away from the fact that economic growth in the Asia Pacific is likely to far outstrip growth else where in the world, and most likely the growth rate will be more than double.
Real estate investing is a local game, you need to be in touch with what’s happening on the ground in real time to ensure you have the best knowledge at your fingertips. This is where we’re working harder for our clients than ever, linking them with our team of more than 120 real estate market experts on the ground in local markets from Canberra to Chongqing and Hyderabad to Hong Kong.
There are certainly plenty of opportunities out there in Asia Pacific for real estate investors at the moment, be they core or opportunistic. Even markets such as China and Japan, the second and third largest economies in the world will not be immune if Greece exits the Euro, however, the picture here is still likely to remain rosier than across the water in Europe. Whatever the outlook for the Euro, we will be here helping our clients every step of the way, keeping them abreast of the risks and opportunities here in Asia Pacific.
