Canadians invest in $3.5 billion worth of real estate in S. Korea in last 5 years

Canadian investors transacted $3.5 billion worth of real estate deals in South Korea from 2016 to 2020, excluding deals smaller than $10 million.

The figure was 12.4 times more than it was during the period from 2011 to 2015, making South Korea the fastest-growing property investment in Asia-Pacific for Canadians.

India, whose transactions between 2016 and 2020 jumped seven times to $5 billion from the previous five years, making it the second-fastest-growing property investment for Canadians. China was the third-fastest, with its real estate transactions from 2016 to 2020 reaching $3 billion, twice more than from the 2011-2015 period.

The sudden increase in property investments by Canadians was a result of Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management’s acquisition of the International Finance Center in Seoul’s Yeouido financial district for $2.2 billion in 2016.

Pension fund manager the CPP Investment Board, another Canadian institution, is also present in South Korea’s real estate market.

The total deal activities by Canadian investors in the Asia-Pacific amounted to $21.2 billion from 2016 to 2020, soaring over 30 percent from the previous five years.

Canadians purchases increased in South Korea, Japan, India, Hong Kong, and China, but those in Australian real estate were cut in half in the 2016-2020 period from the previous five years.

Canadians’ total transactions in South Korea accounted for 16.4 percent during the 2016-2020 period, up from the 1.73 percent recorded during the 2011-2015 period.

Real Capital Analytics said more Canadian institutional investors have looked beyond North America, toward the Asia-Pacific countries, over the past decade.
There is an increased number of Canadian investors who either opened new offices or expanded local teams in Asia to capitalize on the rapidly developing economies here, according to Benjamin Chow, head of analytics for Asia-Pacific at Real Capital Analytics.

Brookfield, the CPP Investment Board, Manulife Financial, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, and BentallGreenOak comprise the five most prominent Canadian investors in Asia-Pacific from the 2016 to 2020 period.