One of the big themes in Asia’s real estate industry this year is divergence. The average price of second-hand homes in Japan in the first quarter of 2025 rose at an annualised pace of 9.5 per cent, while in mainland China it contracted 7.5 per cent, according to Knight Frank’s Global House Price Index. In the commercial property market, investment activity in Australia was up 15 per cent in the first half of this year, while in Hong Kong it fell 59 per cent, according to MSCI data. In fact, one...