The View | Why Osaka, Bengaluru and Johor are overlooked drivers of Asia property
To spot the big themes and trends in Asian property, look beyond the most widely traded cities and see the market’s true breadth and depth
Every quarter, MSCI publishes a ranking of the most actively traded cities in Asia’s commercial property investment market. As recently as 2022, the most widely traded metropolises included major capitals such as Tokyo and Seoul, as well as leading cities such as Shanghai and Sydney.
Fast forward to 2024 and the ranking was more diverse. Chiba, the prefecture just east of Tokyo, and Osaka, Japan’s third-biggest city, were among the top 10 for the whole of last year. Moreover, in the first quarter of this year, Incheon, South Korea’s third-largest city, was the 10th-most widely traded market, while Hyderabad, one of India’s largest cities, took the 13th spot last year.
A good example is Bengaluru. It is widely known that India is the engine of leasing activity in Asia’s office market. Less appreciated, however, is the extent to which Bengaluru, which has long been the country’s technology hub, is fuelling this growth.
