Australia, China and Japan are the best countries for property investment

The Asian Real Estate Association with the European Association for Investors conducted the investment Intentions Asia Survey 2009 in Non-Listed Real Estate Vehicles and the Pension Real Estate Association. The survey showed that many investors are regularly getting on a plane to Australia this year. The reason is that the investor interest had been generated by Australia's falling property prices and the lower Australian dollar. Until recently, investors were looking for growth and opportunistic investment in emerging markets. However, this year's survey showed investors wanted returns from core assets in developed markets. About half of the investors and managers of fund-of-funds (funds that invest in other managed funds) surveyed rated Australia and Japan as "the most appealing in terms of performance prospects in Asia". 41 % of respondents rated Australian office and Japanese office investment as their preferred choice. Australian office and retail properties were viewed as "core assets". The breakdown, however, identified different levels of optimism among institutional investors, funds managers and fund-of-funds managers. The survey found that managers of fund-of-funds were more optimistic about Australia as a location than fund managers or investors. 64 % of fund-of-funds managers listed Australia as the preferred locations, compared with 58 % of investors and about 40 % of fund managers. The respondents expected the market in Asia, including Australia, to recover next year, with some expecting to see signs of recovery starting this year. 50 % of US respondents, compared with 30 % of European respondents surveyed, intend to increase their allocations in Asian unlisted real estate over the next one to two years. AREA's research manager, Clara Lie, said 73 large global investment houses such as Blackrock, Deka Immobilien Investment; LaSalle Investment Management and Morgan Stanley took part in the survey.