Property in Asia and US are good bets, says BT

A report in The Business Times suggests that property in Asia and the US are good investments for 2005.

The report by Neil Behrmann points out that faster growth compared to Europe should help US and Asian properties do well this year, although probably not as well as in 2004. According to Behrmann, estate agents think global shopping centres and other retail outlets "offer better value and growth than offices and industrial real estate". Behrmann also cites a Knight Frank report which states that the biggest prospect is in Asia, where retail real estate is expected to do well. For commercial property investment, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and major Australian cities are rated best.

Knight Frank, however, warns that the Indian property market is volatile, while some analysts fear that "the high euro and sharp slide in growth" among euro bloc countries may hamper investment prospects there.