Asia’s self-storage market offers attractive rental yields, Chicago investment firm says
- US-based real estate investment firm Heitman wants to boost investment in self-storage in Asia
Chicago-based real estate investment firm Heitman is betting on the self-storage market as an emerging theme in commercial properties in Asia.
Heitman, which oversees US$41.7 billion in assets, hopes to expand its investments in mini-storage concepts in Asia, adding to a portfolio of such holdings in Australia, Singapore, and Japan.
Mary Ludgin, senior managing director and director of global investment research at Heitman, said self-storage makes sense in Hong Kong, given the small size of the average flat, and her company had identified opportunities.
“It’s predicated on the assumption that the individual may have an apartment that is small and may not have space to store their spare equipment or their furniture for another season,” Ludgin said.
She added that net operating income growth for US self-storage properties has exceeded that of all other commercial property types over the past 20 years on average.
“One of the things we like about it is it typically takes on income that is much higher than any other property type, and that income is more stable over time than any property types,” Ludgin said. “There's a global quest for high-yielding assets, and that's part of the backdrop for self storage.”
Of Hong Kong’s private housing stock, roughly 76 per cent or 852,000 flats, lack a dedicated storage space, according to Colliers International.
