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"&lt;p&gt;\u200B&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SINGAPORE, 27 February 2014&lt;/strong&gt; - Jones Lang LaSalle has released its &lt;a href=\"http&amp;#58;//www.joneslanglasallesites.com/appd/\"&gt;Asia Pacific Property Digest (APPD)&lt;/a&gt; for Q4 2013 and the latest quarterly indices for the region\u2019s &lt;a href=\"http&amp;#58;//www.ap.jll.com/asia-pacific/en-gb/Research/asia-pacific-office-index-2013q4.pdf\"&gt;office&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=\"http&amp;#58;//www.ap.jll.com/asia-pacific/en-gb/Research/asia-pacific-retail-index-2013q4.pdf\"&gt;retail&lt;/a&gt; and&lt;a href=\"http&amp;#58;//www.ap.jll.com/asia-pacific/en-gb/Research/asia-pacific-residential-index-2013q4.pdf\"&gt; residential &lt;/a&gt;markets. In addition to these separate reports the APPD, which monitors over 20 key cities across Asia Pacific, also gives a comprehensive regional overview and provides data and analysis of the industrial and hotel real estate markets. Reflecting on 2013, this quarter\u2019s report details the firm\u2019s forecast of what\u2019s in store for the Asia Pacific property markets in 2014. &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;a href=\"http&amp;#58;//www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvwmgjO1-9M&amp;amp;list=PL1476669D0B6916D0\"&gt;Watch the podcast for more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;During the final quarter of the year, the Asia Pacific real estate markets continued to record a mixed economic performance, mirroring the preceding three quarters; While 2013 was a record year for commercial real estate investment, office and high-end residential leasing activity remained subdued.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Key highlights include&amp;#58;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2013 a record year for commercial real estate investment &lt;/strong&gt;in Asia Pacific with transaction volumes reaching USD 127 billion, up 29 percent on 2012. In Q4 2013, volumes reached USD 37 billion, up 38 percent y-o-y, finishing as the strongest quarter since Q3 2007&lt;br&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Office leasing&lt;/strong&gt; across the region remains weak, with only patchy improvement, as corporates stay focused on cost saving. Expansion demand was subdued in Q4 with the majority of activity as a result of relocations. While annual net take up in the region was down 15 percent y-o-y, the weakest since 2009, activity is expected to improve in 2014 as the global economy strengthens. Just one third of the region\u2019s markets experienced quarterly growth in &lt;strong&gt;net effective rents&lt;/strong&gt; in Q4 2013 with Singapore leading the region (up 4.2 percent q-o-q) but falls seen in Beijing, , Hong Kong and Australia. Over the year, Southeast Asia saw the strongest growth with y-o-y increases in Jakarta (25.8 percent), Bangkok (11.5 percent) and Singapore (8.4 percent). Single digit rental growth is forecast for most markets this year with the strongest increases likely to be seen in Singapore, Tokyo and Jakarta. &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=\"http&amp;#58;//www.ap.jll.com/asia-pacific/en-gb/Research/asia-pacific-office-index-2013q4.pdf\"&gt;Read the Q4 2013 Office Index for more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;High-end &lt;strong&gt;residential leasing&lt;/strong&gt; demand remained subdued throughout the quarter while stable rents persisted in most markets other than Hong Kong (-0.8 percent) and Singapore (-0.6 percent) which recorded small declines. Just under half of the nine featured markets saw an increase in capital values during the quarter with Shanghai (4.1 percent) and Manila (4.2 percent) leading the quarterly regional growth while Jakarta (up 18.5 percent y-o-y) was the strongest performer over the year. As a result of continued government cooling measures in various markets, price growth will generally be limited in 2014 with moderate increases forecast for Beijing, Shanghai and much of Southeast Asia but continued downward pressure on the Hong Kong and Singapore markets. &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=\"http&amp;#58;//www.ap.jll.com/asia-pacific/en-gb/Research/asia-pacific-residential-index-2013q4.pdf\"&gt;Read the Q4 2013 Residential Index for more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Retailer&lt;/strong&gt; demand remains relatively healthy with slower expansion by luxury brands offset by strong demand from mid-tier retailers and F&amp;amp;B operators. Over the final quarter of 2013, leasing activity in the region was mixed while rents were generally flat with the exception of Greater China and Manila&amp;#58; Beijing recording the strongest growth at 2.5 percent q-o-q. &amp;#160;Hong Kong continues to record the highest rents in the region for both Shopping Centres and High Streets. 2014 is likely to see continued robust activity with further moderate rental growth in most markets as a result of demand from mid-tier retailers and foreign brands.&amp;#160;&lt;a href=\"http&amp;#58;//www.ap.jll.com/asia-pacific/en-gb/Research/asia-pacific-retail-index-2013q4.pdf\"&gt;Read the Q4 2013 Retail Index for more\u200B&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Retailers are driving leasing demand for &lt;strong&gt;industrial space&lt;/strong&gt; with moderate average rental growth of around 1.0 percent q-o-q. On the back of an improving export and retail environment, small increases in rents are expected in most markets in 2014&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The Asia Pacific economy may see some volatility in &lt;strong&gt;2014&lt;/strong&gt; as a result of global pressures such as Fed tapering and regional issues including political uncertainty in Thailand, India and Indonesia. However, regional economic growth is still &lt;strong&gt;forecasted&lt;/strong&gt; to be double that of the rest of the world, at around 5 percent.&amp;#160;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;In addition to the succinct market indices and overviews, the latest APPD includes a series of opinion pieces from across the region&amp;#58;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;An overview of the Asia Pacific economy and property market&lt;/strong&gt; - Dr Jane Murray, Head of Research Asia Pacific.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A discussion on the recent M&amp;amp;A wave in China\u2019s real estate sector&lt;/strong&gt;\u2013 Daniel Odette, Research, Shanghai&amp;#160;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A look at whether improving confidence in the Vietnam real estate market is likely to continue &lt;/strong&gt;\u2013 Stephen Wyatt, Country Head, Vietnam&lt;br&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A discussion on the office market melting pot in India&lt;/strong&gt; \u2013 Ashutosh Limaye, Head of Research, India&lt;br&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;An analysis of Sydney\u2019s residential market recovery&lt;/strong&gt; \u2013 Rupa Ganguli, Director, Research &amp;amp; Consultancy, Australia&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=\"text-align&amp;#58;center;\"&gt;\u2013 ends \u2013&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=\"text-align&amp;#58;center;\"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=\"text-align&amp;#58;left;\"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Notes to editors&amp;#58;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;ol&gt;&lt;li&gt;Bookmark the Jones Lang LaSalle Asia Pacific Property Digest webpage to access the full report, feature articles and video commentaries. http&amp;#58;//www.joneslanglasallesites.com/appd/&lt;br&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The Jones Lang LaSalle Asia Pacific Property Digest includes coverage of over 20 markets in Greater China, North Asia, South East Asia, India and Australasia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;About Jones Lang LaSalle&amp;#160;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE&amp;#58;JLL) is a professional services and investment management firm offering specialized real estate services to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying and investing in real estate. With annual revenue of US$4.0 billion, Jones Lang LaSalle operates in 70 countries from more than 1,000 locations worldwide. On behalf of its clients, the firm provides management and real estate outsourcing services to a property portfolio of 3.0 billion square feet. Its investment management business, LaSalle Investment Management, has $47.6 billion of real estate assets under management.&amp;#160;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Jones Lang LaSalle has over 50 years of experience in Asia Pacific, with over 27,500 employees operating in 80 offices in 15 countries across the region. We were the first commercial property firm to establish an Australian presence in 1958 and currently employ over 1,800 employees throughout our 10 offices across the country. The firm was named \u2018Best Property Consultancy\u2019 in nine Asia Pacific countries at the International Property Awards Asia Pacific 2012, in association with HSBC, and was named the number one real estate advisory firm in Asia Pacific in the Euromoney Real Estate Awards 2012. www.ap.joneslanglasalle.com&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/div&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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