Jakarta Ranked Top Real Estate Investment Market in Asia Pacific

Jakarta, whose colorful postage stamps have enthralled stamp collectors for ages, is now being touted as the next virgin site for international real estate investors.

The Indonesian capital was ranked at the top of a five-country list expected to open a new frontier in global property investment.

The list and the report, Emerging Trends in Real Estate Asia Pacific 2013, was jointly published by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) of Washington, DC and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).of New York City.

The top five emerging Asia Pacific markets listed were:

● Jakarta, Indonesia
● Shanghai, China
● Singapore
● Sydney, Australia
● Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Other markets with high investment potential:

● Kowloon, Hong Kong
● Beijing, China
● Tokyo, Japan
● Bangkok, Thailand

Asia Pacific analysts say it is understandable why Jakarta was selected as the market with the most potential for international investors.

Located on the northwest coast of Java, Jakarta is the largest city in Indonesia and in Southeast Asia with a population of 10 million. It is Indonesia's economic, cultural and political center and ranks is the 13th most populated city in the world, according to Wikipedia. Until now, it has received little attention from big-name real estate investors.

But concerns among investors that prime assets in key real estate markets in the Asia Pacific region are becoming overpriced are pushing a number of previously overlooked markets to their attention. As a result, the report finds that markets outside core cities are increasingly attractive for investment and development

"With high rents, high capital values, low yields, and an abundance of local capital, many international investors are struggling to see attractive investment opportunities in Asia Pacific's prime real estate markets," commented ULI Trustee and ULI North Asia Vice Chairman Richard Price, Chief Executive, Asia Pacific for CBRE Global Investors.