Asian Real Estate on the Rise
Scott Reeves
Theodore Bigman, a portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley, told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” that Asia’s real estate market is strong and growing.
“Mostly, we focus on companies that own office properties,” Bigman said. “The (Asian) office markets are some of the best in the world. Vacancy rates are on the order of 2% to 3% in Tokyo and less than 5% in Hong Kong. So, we think it quite rational for rents and asset values to be moving up.”
He buys listed property stocks in Japan, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. He likes hotel and apartment stocks in the United States.
He said hotel chains such as Starwood Hotels and Hilton Hotels serve the high end of the market and offer investors solid growth prospects. Those companies are also buying back stock.
