Asia Pacific Real Estate Investment Surges 19% in Q1 2026: Report
NEW DELHI: Real estate investment in Asia Pacific increased 19.2% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, according to a report by Savills. The growth was supported by improved investor sentiment, recovery in office transactions, and stronger cross-border capital flows, though activity remained concentrated in core markets and income-generating assets.
Prime office investment rose an estimated 25.7% year-on-year during the quarter, led by gateway cities such as Tokyo and Singapore, where vacancies tightened and rents improved. Industrial and logistics assets also continued to attract capital across the region, supported by demand from AI-related manufacturing, semiconductor exports, data centres, and infrastructure investment.
India was among the key Asia Pacific markets seeing investor interest in industrial and logistics assets, data centre expansion, and infrastructure-led real estate opportunities, the report said. Cross-border investment was concentrated largely in Japan and Singapore during the quarter. Singapore recorded investment sales of S$11.48 billion in Q1 2026, up nearly 95% year-on-year.
In Japan, occupier demand, limited supply, and positive yield spreads supported pricing. Prime office rents in Tokyo’s Central 5 Wards reached new highs during the period. Investment trends remained mixed across other markets. In China, investment volumes declined year-on-year as older investment strategies continued to unwind, though price corrections started attracting interest from domestic and international investors.
Hong Kong saw higher non-residential investment, driven by office and hotel deals. Investors also looked at repositioning opportunities, including conversion of hotels into student accommodation. The report said data centres and technology-linked infrastructure continued to influence capital flows across Asia Pacific.
Taiwan recorded strong commercial property transactions during the quarter, led by owner-occupied factory acquisitions by technology companies. Malaysia also saw data centre and IT infrastructure-related acquisitions account for more than half of industrial investment activity.
