The resurgence of Asian REITs

ON ASIA

The Asia Pacific real estate investment trust (REIT) sector has enjoyed strong growth in the past decade to become the second largest market after North America.

Australia, Hong Kong and Malaysia are also among the top ten REIT markets globally, while other countries with REITs include Japan and Singapore, where they were first publicly traded over a decade ago. Investors can also find REITs or REIT-like vehicles in Taiwan, South Korea and Thailand. Given their popularity, regulators in other countries are considering developing their own REIT markets. So what makes this growing and increasingly liquid asset class attractive to investors? Firstly, REITs provide exposure to Asia’s thriving commercial property markets and, by extension, the reg...