Transparency improves in real estate sector

Many emerging markets improved their levels of real estate transparency over the past two years, with China achieving the greatest improvement in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a report by Jones Lang LaSalle, a professional services firm specializing in real estate.

According to the latest China edition of the Global Real Estate Transparency Index from Jones Lang LaSalle and LaSalle Investment Management, its global real estate investment management subsidiary, China is currently classified as a semi-transparent market, moving up one full level from low transparency.

"The successful staging of the 2008 Olympic Games has shifted the focus of investors from around the world not only onto Beijing but indeed China as a whole," said Denis Ma, head of the research department of Jones Lang LaSalle Beijing, adding that the index serves as an excellent tool for potential first-time investors in China's real estate market.