Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte’s purchase of six warehouses in Japan from Blackstone Inc. for US$800 million contributed significantly to that, said Christine Li, Knight Frank’s head of Asia-Pacific research, in the report.
GIC Chief Investment Officer Jeffrey Jaensubhakij recently described Japan as a “very cheap” market where value can be realized, and with a long way to run. International investors are also attracted to its low borrowing costs, and putting more money into hotels because of a post-pandemic tourism boom.
Foreign investors, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., KKR & Co., Blackstone Inc., have spent a combined US$2 billion on hotel deals in Japan so far in 2023, the most compared with any other sector in Asian commercial property, according to MSCI Real Assets.
Japan’s surge in hybrid work arrangements and rising supply has eroded investors’ appetite for the office sector, Knight Frank said in the report.
