Like other leading Asian commercial hubs, Thailand generally witnessed upbeat investment performance in the first quarter. Local and foreign players were active across Asia's leading real-estate markets. In the region's relatively more subdued markets, local players continued to generate activity.

In Thailand the focus has been on a number of sectors. Aside from offices, there is growing interest in hotels. Most recently, Kingdom Hotel Investments - chaired by Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal - acquired the Karon Beach Hotel Phuket from LaSalle Investment Management for a reported US$98.5 million (Bt3.76 billion), including $30.5 million of debt.

"Demand for income-producing properties continues to grow in Thailand, with multiple bidders for any quality property that comes on the market," said Aliwassa Pathnadabutr, managing director of CB Richard Ellis (Thailand).

Overall, Thailand's investment market will pick up over the rest of this year on the basis that investment returns in Bangkok remain attractive regionally.

Elsewhere in Asia, despite the fact no major deals were recorded in Jakarta during the first quarter, some local developers and investors continued to display an interest in investing in Indonesia.

The extension of the SPV Act in the Philippines is expected to facilitate the further disposition of non-performing assets, which is forecast to boost the real-estate market.

And in Malaysia, AmFirst Property Trust and AMMB Holdings Bhd announced the proposed disposal of their entire interests in four office buildings by spinning them off to the upcoming AmFirst REIT.

Transactions by foreign institutional players accounted for half of CB Richard Ellis's top 10 headline deals in the first quarter, with AIG making the biggest purchase by a foreign player with its $415-million investment of a mixed-use project in Tokyo. In China, the market continued to witness the formation of and negotiations over foreign-local joint ventures for development projects.

In Japan, an influx of funds into the real-estate market channelled through acquisitions of Japanese real-estate investment trusts, estimated at 1.4 trillion yen (Bt485 billion) last year, has been a critical factor in driving up land values in Tokyo and other big cities.

Underpinned by solid demand for office space and robust developer interest in undertaking urban-redevelopment schemes, commercial land prices last year increased for the first time in 15 years in the greater Tokyo area.

Meanwhile, despite a slow start, real-estate investment in Hong Kong bounced back at the end of the first quarter. Two of the largest deals there were the acquisition of Vicwood Plaza in Sheung Wan and a property in Quarry Bay for 2.6 billion and 1.6 billion Hong Kong dollars (Bt12.78 billion and Bt7.86 billion), respectively.

In Beijing, Asia International Finance Investment purchased the Huapu Centre in January for 2.2 billion yuan (Bt10.46 billion). Local-foreign joint ventures remain prevalent in that market.