Offices sell best in Tokyo

Tokyo took first place in the world in terms of the volume of investment transactions in sales of office real estate in the first half of this year, writes RIA Novosti , citing a study by the international consulting company Colliers International.

As follows from the company's materials, office sales in this city amounted to $7.674 billion in the first half of the year. Moreover, they turned out to be 1.1% lower than the same indicator in 2009.

London was in second place in the ranking, where office sales reached $5.072 billion (26.3% more than in the first half of 2009), Paris was in third with $3.744 billion (an increase of 116.4%), also in first place. The top five included New York ($2.316 billion, up 82.7%) and Washington ($2.181 billion, up 225%).

As the report emphasizes, these markets "showed a significant increase in investment compared to the first half of 2009."

“In sixth place in the first half of 2010 is Hong Kong, seventh is Shanghai, eighth is San Francisco, ninth is Beijing, and Sydney rounds out the top ten,” the report adds.

Moscow, it states, is in thirteenth place, showing a slight reduction (by 3.2%) in investment volume compared to the first half of 2009 - to $904 million.

"Investment sales transactions in the office segment have been increasing for the second half of the year in a row. In the first half of 2010, global investments amounted to $58.4 billion, compared to the second half of 2009, an increase of 31% and 37% compared to the first half of 2009," - stated in the study.

It notes that the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region was the most active, with sales in the office segment amounting to $23.5 billion. It is followed by Asia-Pacific with $17.2 billion and the Americas with $14.1 billion.

"Cap rates are expected to decline in all three major regions. In particular, cap rates in Asia Pacific are already down 119 basis points, while EMEA is down 16 basis points and the Americas is down 56 basis points." ", experts predict.