Panel modelling of retail yields in Asia‐Pacific cities

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the variation and dispersion of prime retail yields in eight Asia‐Pacific centres. It seeks to provide empirical evidence on the significance of real estate and capital market influences as systematic drivers of retail yields in the sample of eight cities. The aim is to build a model that enables market participants to obtain base case yield forecasts. Design/methodology/approach - A panel model is deployed in this study utilising a database of yields of eight years (2001‐2007). The small number of observations for retail yields across cities is addressed with this approach, which combines time‐series and cross‐section data. A fixed‐effect specification allows for city specific influences that partially capture the heterogeneity of cities in the sample. Within this framework the influence of time varying factors across markets and random effects on yields is examined. Findings - The empirical estimates established significant influences from real rent growth and interest rates on retail yields explaining 78 per cent of their variation when allowed for fixed effects. Systematic time influences and market size are not significant. Retail yields are found fairly sensitive to long‐term interest (LTI) rates with 1 per cent change in LTI rates resulting in an over 80 basis points shift in yields. In general, investors should be aware of interest rate shocks as these can move retail yields in the region significantly. Based on the actual and simulated values for 2007 Shanghai and Hong Kong are broadly fairly priced. In Tokyo, Sydney and Singapore retail yields are somewhat lower than the simulated values, which are attributed to greater liquidity and transparency in these markets than indicating over‐pricing. In Delhi, the prime yield above the actual a sign of a possible outward movement is found. Beijing appears under‐priced. Finally, in Mumbai, which has the highest yield in the sample, the simulated yield is below actual as per 2007. An adjustment may not be expected as this difference is attributed to the pricing of supply risks in this market. Originality/value - This study addresses the dearth of research work on retail yields in the Asia‐Pacific region. Through the panel methodology proposed market participants can obtain fundamentals‐based forecasts for prime retail yields in the sample of the eight cities, understand the exposure to interest rate movements and make calls as to whether markets are mispriced. The study shows that pooling data and panel techniques represent a good option to study market dynamics in situations of small datasets.