Singapore overtakes Hong Kong as Asia-Pacific's top source for outbound capital in Q1

Cross-border capital in Hong Kong crashed 37% to US$11.14b.

Singapore dominated Asia-Pacific cross border capital outflows in Q1 with US$21.8b in cross-border commercial real estate investment in the 12 months leading to Q1 2019, according to property consultant Knight Frank. 

Investments from Singapore overtook Hong Kong which ranked second place even after cross-border capital outflow crashed 37% to US$11.4b. South Korea followed at third place with US$8.9b in investments and China rounded out the top five with US$5.7b in cross border capital outflows, down 83% from last year's US$34.5b.

The decline in Chinese outbound capital weighed heavily on headline figures for Asia Pacific which dropped 34% to US$57b and trailed behind North America (US$110b) and Europe (US$104b).

In terms of inbound capital, Hong Kong shared fifth place with Singapore after receiving US$3.9b in investments in the 12 months to Q1 2019. This represents a 52% decline from US$8.1b in the same period in 2018.

“China’s maturing market has been a target, not only for Singaporean investors but for US private equity and Hong Kong-based capital. Whilst Tier-1 markets continue to attract the lion’s share of capital, some investors are exploring dynamic Tier-2 markets," Neil Brookes, Asia-Pacific Head of Capital Markets, Knight Frank, said in a statement.

Despite holding back on property investments, China was ranked as the largest recipient of cross-border commercial real estate investments after receiving US$14.3b, putting it ahead of Australia, South Korea and Japan. Hong Kong came in a sixth place after cross-border capital inflows crashed 52% to US$3.9b followed by India (US$2.7b). Taiwan and New Zealand both received US$1.2b in investments and Malaysia rounded out the top ten at US$0.7b.