JLL's trasparency index increases in 50% of rated countries

The levels of transparency in real estate sectors of emerging markets have significantly improved, according to the latest Global Real Estate Transparency Index from Jones Lang LaSalle. The survey revealed that in 2008, eight countries moved up a full transparency tier since the last index in 2006. Dubai, Romania, Ukraine and Russia showed the biggest improvements in transparency over the last two years.

The Index provides a framework for comparing the level of real estate transparency in 82 markets around the world. JLL said nearly half of the countries surveyed in 2006 demonstrated a significant improvement in their transparency score two years later. Transparency levels globally are improving as governments seek to streamline regulatory and legal hurdles to aid cross-border movement of capital and corporate facilities. Only Venezuela posted a lower transparency score this year compared with 2006, principally due to changes in government regulations and new taxation policies targeting foreign investors.

In keeping with historical results, the Australian and US real estate markets remain among the most transparent in the world, and Canada now ranks as the world's most transparent commercial real estate market.

'Many cross-border investors focus on more mature, open and transparent real estate markets such as the UK, Canada, Netherlands and Hong Kong. However, opportunistic investors will consider the emerging, less mature, less open and semi-transparent markets, but will require higher returns to compensate for the higher risks associated with lower transparency. Only the most opportunistic investors will consider semi-transparent markets found in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Opaque markets, such as Algeria, Belarus and Cambodia, are still very problematic, from the perspective of both investors and corporate occupiers,' said Jacques Gordon, global strategist at LaSalle Investment Management.