Markbericht Asien Jul09

While the Asian economy is not entirely out of the woods yet, market sentiment became less bearish in the second quarter.

Executive Summary

• Sentiment in Asia saw a marked improvement in the second quarter. Early signs of economic stabilization brought upon by factors that include the various government stimulus packages in the region fueled a stock market rally.
  
• Credit market tension has begun to ease, leading to meaningful growth in bank lending.
  
• Asia’s property investment markets saw slightly higher transaction volume in the second quarter over the first quarter. That could signal that investor confidence is slowly returning, although the volume remains much smaller than a year ago.
  
• Rental demand in the region’s office markets came mostly from tenant renewals instead of expansions. The overall sentiment remained cautious, and cost-conscious tenants were taking advantage of the current market to negotiate lower rents.
  
• Residential sales were robust, boosted by low interest rates, strong underlying pent-up demand, high saving rates and improved availability of mortgage financing.