Colliers International has released the Asia Market Snapshot for the Q1 of 2019 and it didn't look impressive. According to RE Talk Asia, the trends highlighted prevailing forecasts in places such as China, Japan, and Singapore. The outlook for the quarter ahead, however, had been mixed, with some markets 'cautiously optimistic' while some are looking towards a positive fiscal year.
Terence Tang, the managing director of Capital Markets and Investment Services (Asia) at Colliers, said that real estate markets across the Asian region initially started on a high note. However, during that same quarter, investors have grown wiser. Most became aware of the benefits of diversification and has since moved away from traditional assets such as office space and housing.
Tang Wei Leng, managing director of Colliers International (Singapore) added that the hospitality sector in the region had grown in the first quarter. Interest from various developers and investors, keen on diversifying their assets, drove this growth. The commercial sector also enjoyed a few deals than normal after a lot of negotiations and due diligence paid dividends moving forward.
Amid the mixed results brought forth by the Asian region, the stocks were on full display following the announcement of the US visiting Beijing next week. According to Investing.com, US Trade representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin are traveling to the Chinese capital next week to start a new round of negotiations.
Chinese stocks have ended lower on Tuesday, although this was because of speculations of lowered stimulus packages as well as 'asset bubbles.' Some investors believed that there were unnecessary risks in the market, a big reason why the financial and real estate sectors ended the way they did.
The rest of Asia displayed different reactions to China's position. The Nikkei 225 of Japan nearly flattened out during trading. Nissan Motor Co., Ltd crawled to just 3% after the company was reportedly looking to downgrade its earnings outlook for the fiscal year. Even South Korea's KOSPI wasn't impressive, hobbling to just 1% at the market.
While Hong Kong had announced that its market was ready for a rebound and Singapore's assets are looking attractive as commercial properties in the region appear to not have taken a hit, the rest of the region is reeling. Perhaps, the second quarter will hold a lot better results than what the first quarter of the year had bought.
