This aerial photo taken on Sept 11, 2020 shows a view of downtown Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong province. (MAO SIQIAN / XINHUA)
Commercial property investment in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is becoming more diversified and expanding to smaller cities beyond Shenzhen and Guangzhou, according to international real estate services provider Cushman & Wakefield.
With rapid development of the Greater Bay Area in recent years, the transportation network there has been improving, which has fueled industrial transformation and brought new opportunities for property investment, said Alva To, the firm’s vice-president for Greater China.
Hong Kong remains the preferred destination for foreign investors, as the market has higher liquidity
While investors are turning to second-tier cities in the area, rather than focusing only on Shenzhen and Guangzhou, they are also diversifying their portfolios, adding such asset types as industrial logistics, cold chains and data centers to their consideration, he said. Previously, their major interests were in traditional offices and shopping malls.
Cushman & Wakefield estimated that total transaction value for commercial property investment in the Greater Bay Area could exceed 50 billion yuan (US$7.7 billion) this year.
Sentiment among foreign investors is improving, with their investment value jumping from 17 percent of the total in 2020 to 25 percent this year, said Queeny So, Cushman & Wakefield’s executive director of capital markets in China.
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As a key region in the country, the Greater Bay Area offers a golden opportunity for foreign investors holding few assets in South China to allocate geostrategic assets, she said.
Hong Kong remains the preferred destination for foreign investors, as the market has higher liquidity, So added.
