CHINA LEADS COMMERCIAL-PROPERTY SALES

       China outpaced the US and the UK combined in first-half commercial-property sales, says New York-based research company Real Capital Analytics.
       China's transactions reached US$31.2 billion (Bt1 trillion) following a surge in sales of land-development rights after the government eased credit terms. US sales were $16.2 billion in the first half, while the UK's were $13.7 billion, RCA said.
       "There's no question that China will be a more significant player on the world stage for commercial-property transactions versus other Western countries," said Real Capital's managing director Dan Fasulo.
       But he added that China's growth "may not be sustainable at this level."
       Globally, commercial properties worth some $62.8 billion were sold in the second quarter, up 17 per cent quarter on quarter and the first increase in 18 months, Real Capital said.
       The Research firm said sales growth was the first step towards global recovery and that countries receiving the most financial support from their governments would recover more quickly.
       Despite the second-quarter figures, first-half commercial-property sales totalled $116.4 billion, down 65 per cent year on year and $500 billion below the market's peak in the first half of 2007.
       In China, investors took advantage of easier borrowing terms to buy the rights to develop buildings on state-owned land, Fasulo said. The government retains ownership of the land.
       The amount of office space sold in China rose 13 per cent in the first seven months of the year, while sales of property for commercial uses gained 22 per cent, the National Bureau of Statistics of China said earlier this month.
       Second-half sales may rise, as investors believe that "the economy has bottomed out, clearing some of the uncertainty," said Lee Hing-yin, director of research for East China at Colliers.
       Soho China, the biggest developer in Beijing's central business district, last week said it had bought an office and retail development for 2.45 billion yuan (Bt12.19 billion) that it planned to sell again within a month or two.
       "Asia's looking the healthiest,: said Ray Torto, global chief economist for the CB Richard Ellis group.
       "They're very optimistic over there, like a young buck. You come back to the US, and you're talking to an older man."
       The slow US recovery reflects the "deep connections of itms major institutions to the epicentre of the 2008 financial cataclysm", RCA said.
       US spending on commercial property was 6 per cent of the amount spent there in the first half of 2007, Fasulo said, compared with China's spending of 92 per cent of the corresponding 2007 figure.
       The volume of properties in default, foreclosure or bankruptcy around the world has reached $230 billion, increasing $96 billion in the second quarter, RCA said.
       "The growth in transactions is only a first step in the recovery process," it said. "Pricing and operating fundamentals remain in decline, and debt remains scarce."