Beijing office market offers opportunities

Although opportunities are emerging in Beijing's office investment market, with prices back to real value, it is still too early to say when's the best time to buy, industry experts said.

Internet upstarts JD and ByteDance have since 2019 began spent billions of yuan buying office buildings.

According to statistics from ChinaVenture's PropTech Research Institute, in the first half of 2019, 11 block trades occurred in Beijing, and the disclosed transaction value exceeded 30 billion yuan ($4.25 billion).

According to Wang Leishi, senior researcher at Haozu Xiaolou, the investment is due to more reasonable prices that better reflect the real value of property. Investors meanwhile are also more rational.

It is too early to say however if now is the best time for bargain-hunting.

Zhang Wei, an investment expert at Cushman & Wakefield, said that neither owners' expectations nor real transaction prices have declined significantly.

Regarding actual transactions, many sellers raided prices at the last minute.

The majority of trades in the Beijing office market remain small compared with the market's peak, according to Yang Dong, director of Zhongjinjiasheng Fund Management Co.

Ou Zhen contributed to this story.