The property market of Hong Kong and the Asia Pacific region in general will see significant growth next year, a research institute predicted yesterday.

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) released yesterday the results of an Asia Pacific property investment value report in which the SAR jumped to the 5th place from the 11th position last year.

The survey, one of the most respected and anticipated outlooks for the industry, interviewed 190 professionals, including bankers, investors, developers, brokers and consultants, in 20 cities.

ULI pointed out that Hong Kong has been consistently mentioned as one of Asia Pacific's gateway cities and a municipality that is internationally competitive.

Hong Kong is viewed as having `modestly good' prospects for both investment and development, offering `moderately low' risk to investors, says the report.

"Hong Kong is reflecting the glory of China," said one interviewee, while another described Hong Kong as a key location for financial services and insurance industries, which is leading to strong growth in the office sector.

Published in the US for the last 29 years and in Europe for the past five years, the Asia Pacific edition of the report entitled "Emerging Trends in Real Estate" covers the region for the second time this year.

As far as the ranking of investment cities, where investors are interested in buying, holding or selling properties, is concerned, Shanghai takes up the top slot, followed by Singapore, Tokyo, Osaka and Hong Kong.

"One of the highlights of the report is the rising number of individuals and firms now active in more than one Asia Pacific market. This indicates the business community's growing comfort in several cities that offer widely varied market conditions," Stephen Blank, ULI senior resident fellow, told a press conference yesterday.

"The fact that more businesses understand and recognize the diversity and variations is undeniably another step towards market maturity," he added.

K.K. So, tax leader of PricewaterhouseCoopers' Asia Pacific Real Estate, who had a part in compiling the report, said the survey reflected a booming property market and surging property prices in Hong Kong.

"It is expected even greater amounts of capital will be flooding Asia Pacific real estate markets in 2008," he predicted.

The survey also indicated that investors tended to buy or hold properties in Hong Kong, rather than selling, reflecting the city's growing popularity within the investors. The report also showed that the strongest buying sentiment was in the hotel sector, with 53 percent of the respondents advising buying hotels, and 37 percent advising holding.

This was followed by office space with 29 percent advising buying and 49 percent advising holding.

(HK Edition 10/03/2007 page5)