research only includes sales greater than $10 million, the total size of the marketplace may be closer $1.5 trillion."
The report also identifies 114 cities that recorded more than $1 billion of commercial property sales. Other findings in the first issue of Global Capital Trends include:
- Of the 114 cities that recorded more than $1 billion of commercial property sales, 48 are in North America, 35 are in Europe and 21 are in Asia.
- Office space was the most active property type, representing 32 percent of total sales, or $434 billion. Nearly 1.2 billion square feet (112 million square meters) of property changed hands last year, equivalent to all of London, Tokyo and New York City combined.
- Commercial property sales volumes in Asia could surpass those in either Europe or the Americas in 2008.
- The risk premium for property ranges from 20 to 350 bps. U.K. and Hong Kong were considered the least risky investment locations with capitalization rates averaging just above comparable government bonds in 2007.
- Half of all land acquired by developers around the world last year was located in China with $50 billion in acquisitions, double the U.S., the next most active country.
- Corporate users capitalized on investor demand for property globally with $88 billion worth of asset sales including $56 billion of sale- leaseback transactions, a form of corporate finance.
"Some of the findings of this report are fascinating and the industry will really benefit from this new level of transparency", said Steve Williams, an international property consultant and former president of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
