Flint Davidson News Today

Japanese investors trumped buyers from North America, Hong Kong and Singapore to be the most active offshore capital in Australia’s property sector last year, new CBRE data shows.

The biggest drag on deal flow was the slowdown in the office sector as worries about changes in workplace use weighed heavily on investors’ minds.

Fund manager ISPT is offering up a portfolio of retail and office properties worth about $600 million across Sydney and Melbourne.

Fund manager ISPT is offering up a portfolio of retail and office properties worth about $600 million across Sydney and Melbourne.

The transaction is the latest in a sequence of major office tower deals sending a clear signal of a reset in values across the commercial property sector.

Rising finance costs and uncertainty over valuations have put a brake on the commercial property market, with deal-making down 50 per cent in the first half this year.

UBS AM hires head of fixed income for EM, APAC; Legal Super names new chief executive; NPS reshuffles investment heads; BlackRock hires APAC markets head for iShares; DWS appoints APAC chief; Nikko AM names China chairwoman, and more.

The record sale shows there is still demand for quality workplaces with long leases to blue-chip tenants despite the uncertainty cause by COVID-19.

It is expected Dexus will parlay sales proceeds into bold new landmarks, such as the Atlassian tower in central Sydney, while stepping up plans to bring more warehouses and logistics assets onto its platform. 

In another big office transaction in Brisbane, Cromwell Property Group has bought a tower with rental upside.