The capital city of Beijing saw rents for prime retail locations in the first quarter rise at their fastest pace since 2019, according to property consultancy JLL. The firm expects the demand to persist throughout the year, helping boost rents, which remain well below pre-pandemic levels. Prices in China's commercial real estate market are getting close to an attractive buying point, Joe Kwan, Singapore-based managing partner at Raffles Family Office, said in an interview last week.
BEIJING — China's commercial property sector is seeing pockets of demand amid an overall real estate slump. The capital city of Beijing is seeing rents for prime retail locations rise at their fastest pace since 2019, property consultancy JLL said in a report Tuesday. Rents increased by 1.3% during the first three months of this year compared with the fourth quarter of 2023, the report said. Demand from new food and beverage brands, niche foreign fashion offerings and electric car companies has helped drive the interest in shopping mall storefronts, according to JLL. The firm expects the demand to persist throughout the year, helping boost rents, which remain well below pre-pandemic levels. Commercial real estate, which includes office buildings and shopping malls, makes up just a fraction of China's overall property market.Sales of offices and commercial-use properties rose 15% and 17%, respectively, by floor area, in January and February from a year earlier, according to Wind Informatio