10 | TOP TEN
Thai law – carrot and stick 4
NEWS
OPP TOP 10 1- ASIA
THE Thai ombudsman is drafting a ‘carrot-and-stick’ law to protect Thailand from illegal foreign nominee ownership. If the new law is passed,
punishment will be also doled out to companies off ering advice to foreigners on how to disguise their legal transactions, including law fi rms and consultants. The law would also deport
foreigners found guilty of holding land plots in Thailand illegally. In regards to the ‘carrot’,
Ombudsman Siracha Charoenpanij said at a seminar run by the Thai Appraisal Foundation last week: “The new law includes a reward to anyone providing information about foreigners owning land through nominees. They will get 20% of the market price of that piece of land as a reward after the plot is sold.”
OPP COMMENT Thailand has long suff ered from complexity in the rules concerning what foreigners can and cannot own and an almost corresponding level of ignoring the rules. The government has blown hot and cold on this for a long time but have not looked like being serious about bringing the market back under control. This is in the face of much local resentment about property prices and locals being “priced out of the market”.
5
More investing in US US residential international
sales rose from $66.4 billion in 2011 to $83.2 billion for the year ending in March 2012, according to a survey released by the National Association of Realtors. International buyers accounted
for 4.2% of the US real estate market during the year. Canada led the way in purchases with 24%, followed by China with 11% (up from 9% in 2011). Mexico was next with 8% of
sales while the UK and India both accounted for 6%. The survey showed that most
foreign buyers (40%) chose the US as it was a ‘desirable location’ – the other two main incentives were ‘profi table’ or ‘secure’ investment, at 31% and 21% respectively.
– as the market is regarded as safe, say analysts.
U
According to a report by the Institute of Public Policy and Research, overseas buyers invested £5.2bn in London Property in 2011. A study by venture capital fund manager Clarendon Capital, shows that London prime central has consistently outperformed both gold and the FTSE over a period of 15 years.
K property continues to attract foreign investment – especially central London
“It’s seen as safe, and for investors who are looking to transfer their capital from risky markets into a viable asset, buying prime central residential property is an ideal option,” says Sayu Sinha, fund manager at Clarendon. According to Ernst and Young’s European Attractiveness Survey, London is the most attractive city in Europe for overseas companies to invest in, beating nearest rivals Paris by 9%. British realtors Taylor Wimpey
confi rmed that the UK market has stayed ‘stable’ in the fi rst half of 2012.
2- UNITED KINGDOM 3- GERMANY 4- THAILAND 5- US 6- FRANCE 7- CHINA 8- GREECE 9- IRELAND 10- DUBAI
By: Francine Carrel
last property cycle, according to Investment Property Databank (IPD). IPD’s report reveals that Asia
A
showed positive total returns over the last fi ve years (with an average annual return of 6.4%). The US had negative returns (2.3% average), as did Europe (3.5%). However, the US had a higher return than Asia in 2011, with a 14.5% average compared to Asia’s
sian property markets outperformed those in the US and Europe during the
8.4%. Europe remained below, delivering 6.6%. Japan is a big infl uence in the
IPD’s Asian databank, representing 50% – when disregarding the country, the fi ve-year annual return for Asia increased to 11.3%.
Kevin Swaddle, managing director
at IPD Asia, told IP Real Estate: “While most of Asia’s property investment markets improved a little last year, the Chinese markets soared with a return of 18.0%.
“Still, there was a wide range of returns included in the 2011 Pan Asia composite, from a high of 22.3%
for Hong Kong to 3.4% for Japan. The continuing poor performance in Japanese property, the largest segment of the index, will be of little surprise to investors.
“Some markets are up on last year, and a few down. But the key fi nding is that the top three markets are all infl uenced by China: Hong Kong, the Mainland itself and Taiwan.” However, OPP thinks that the real question is what property is going to do in the next few years and, while looking at previous performance can be helpful, it is no solid indicator of likely future performance...
London a safe bet Germany up I
2
nvestment in German real estate reached €6.6 billion in the fi rst half of 2012, according to realtor
Cushman and Wakefi eld. The total is double that of the fi rst half of 2011 and already exceeds 2011’s full-year total of €6.2 billion. Both Cushman and Wakefi eld and CBRE expect this year’s total transactions to reach at least €10 billion. C&W reported that 23 portfolios with over 250 housing units were transacted, falling from 43 in the fi rst half of 2011. However, the number of units transacted rose by 96% to 133,000 – a result of several large transactions. Average transaction size rose to 5,800 units in the fi rst half of this year from 1,600 in 2011.
3 1
www.opp.org.uk | JULY & AUGUST 2012 Asia above US and Europe
Bright future | investment is soaring
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