Cross-border property investment jumped 56% in first half, data shows

By Iain Withers

LONDON, ‌Sept 18 (Reuters) - ​Cross-border ​investment into commercial property globally jumped 56% to $71.8 billion in the first ‌half of this year, driven by more ⁠deals in Asia and Europe including for premium offices, ‌although higher borrowing costs ‌could keep activity in check for the rest of the year, according to research ​from property agency JLL.

The leap in cross-border deals outpaced more sluggish growth in overall ⁠building transactions in the period, which were up just 10% ​year-on-year to $604.6 billion, according to separate MSCI data.

International investment into property in Asia ​leapt fourfold to $19.3 billion and ‌increased 31% to $39.9 billion in Europe, according to JLL's figures.

"There was a ⁠re-emergence of the office sector," Fraser Bowen, a director in JLL's capital markets business, told Reuters, ⁠adding that international investors were particularly active in big ​European cities including London and Milan. Singapore ranked first globally with $8.7 billion in cross-border volume.

The rate-sensitive sector will ‌likely be weighed down by soaring borrowing costs in the second half ‌of the year, Bowen said. "Our volumes are ⁠always pretty well ‌correlated to interest ​rates," he said.

($1 = 0.8709 euros)

($1 = 0.7481 pounds)

(Reporting by Iain Withers, Editing by Louise ‌Heavens)

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