Beijing's en-bloc transactions in first three quarters surpass all of 2018

En-bloc transactions in Beijing in the first three quarters of this year have surpassed that of all 2018, fuelled by the surge in tradable assets and investors' growing confidence in the market, industry statistics showed.

According to JLL, an international real estate consultancy firm, the first nine months have seen en-bloc transactions in the capital totaling more than 50 billion yuan ($7.06 billion). With several deals under negotiation in the third quarter, the full-year figure of 2019 is poised to set a record high – and close out the year well above the 38 billion yuan recorded in 2018.

According to Vincent Li, head of the research department of Savills North China, more foreign investors are increasingly active in pursuing opportunities as there are more tradable assets in the market, although domestic investors continue to be major players.

"The strong fundamentals in Beijing are also enticing investors to chase new opportunities, leading to increased market activity," Li said.

Over the last several months, the Beijing market has quickly gained steam and become very hot as market conditions and strong fundamentals have led to a rise in opportunities that were previously inaccessible to a larger majority.

In the third quarter, high-profile deals included Keppel Land purchasing Shangdi NEO for 179 million yuan, China Fortune selling China Railway Materials Project to Ping An Insurance for 5.8 billion yuan and BBMG purchasing Pangu Plaza's No 5 "Dragon Head" Office Tower for 5.18 billion yuan though a government auction.

"Even with ongoing economic uncertainty, both domestic and foreign investors are still highly confident about the Beijing market – and with more tradable assets becoming available, we believe that now is the time to get into the market," said Michael Wang, Head of Capital Markets for North China at JLL in Beijing.