Investor interest in Asia Pacific property was up last year, with upmarket property group Savills reporting a near doubling of profits. The firm's Asia Pacific arm delivered an "outstanding performance" with revenues up 33 per cent to a record GBP 280 million.
However, Jeremy Helsby, chief executive of the firm, has warned that recent catastrophes in Japan could negatively impact on Asia's overall performance this year.
"For the markets of mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore these events come on top of government measures of the last 12 months to address property speculation. The longer term potential of our Asian business remains compelling, but at this stage, we continue to expect a reduced volume of transactions in the region in 2011," he said.
He added that shares were down one per cent. Although, Mr Helsby said he expected that the slowdown in its Asian business as a result of the disaster will be offset by growth in other markets such as the US and Europe.