Worldwide, cross-border investment jumped 56% to $71.8 billion, driven by more deals in Asia and Europe, including purchases of premium offices, according to property agency JLL.
International property investment in Asia quadrupled to $19.3 billion, while investment in Europe rose 31% to $39.9 billion.
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People look at the city skyline on June 7, 2021 in Singapore. Photo by NurPhoto via AFP |
The increase outpaced growth in overall property transactions, which rose 10% year over year to $604.6 billion, according to data from global index provider MSCI.
“There was a re-emergence of the office sector,” Fraser Bowen, a director in JLL’s capital markets business, told Reuters.
He said international investors were particularly active in major European cities, including London and Milan.
Soaring borrowing costs would likely weigh on the interest rate-sensitive sector in the second half of the year, he added. “Our volumes are always pretty well correlated to interest rates,” he said.
Singapore’s commercial real estate market is headed for a record year after deals totaled $10.3 billion in the first half of 2026, according to data from MSCI, as reported by The Business Times.
“Singapore’s recovery has been driven in large part by overseas capital, with global investors accounting for a significant share of activity in the city-state this year,” said Benjamin Chow, MSCI’s head of private assets research for Asia.