FACTBOX: Asia property investment up 27 pct in 2007

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Property investment in Asia reached a record $121 billion in 2007, according to consultants Jones Lang LaSalle, up 27 percent from the previous year.

And while the credit crunch took its toll in Europe and North America in the second half of the year, pushing down global transaction value by 8 percent from the second half of 2007, investment in Asia surged 22 percent in the last six months. Data from Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shows transaction volumes globally in the first five months of 2008 were 40 percent lower than in the same period last year, dragged down by weaker activity in Europe and the United States.

Asia-Pacific direct commercial real estate investment

2007 2006 Total transactions $121 bln $95 bln Cross-border (% total) $57 bln $31 bln Inter-regional (% total) $42 bln $21 bln Major markets

2007 2006 Japan $60 bln $52 bln Australia $18 bln $12 bln China $9 bln $9 bln Hong Kong $9 bln $7 bln Singapore $8 bln $5.8 bln Major cross-border markets

2007 2006 Japan $28 bln $13 bln China $7 bln $6 bln South Korea $5 bln $1.44 bln Major cross-border investors

2007 Global $25 bln Singapore $4 bln Australia $4 bln Hong Kong $3 bln (Source: Jones Lang LaSalle)

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(Reporting by Dominic Whiting; Editing by Kim Coghill)