CHICAGO, June 30, 2022 – While many of the world’s leading commercial real estate markets in North America, Western Europe and Australasia are becoming more transparent, most other countries struggle to maintain the pace of transparency improvement. These findings are according to the biennial, proprietary Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI) from JLL and LaSalle (NYSE: JLL) which provides a unique benchmark of market transparency for property investors, developers and corporate occupiers.

“The influence of external events including geopolitical conflict, economic volatility and lingering effects of COVID-19 that has permeated the last two years has had widespread effects on the global real estate market,” said Richard Bloxam, CEO, Capital Markets, JLL. “Transparency is the foundation which allows corporate occupiers, as well as investors and lenders to the world’s largest asset class, to operate and make decisions with confidence. While we are encouraged to see increased transparency in many of the world’s leading markets, limited improvements in many other global markets have resulted in one of the slowest rates of progress in the index’s history and highlights growing disparity in transparency around the world.”

“Sustainability is the leading driver of transparency improvements in this year’s survey, a continuing trend since 2018,” said Jacques Gordon, Head of Global Strategy and Research for LaSalle Investment Management. “Net zero emissions are the current focus for many investors, companies and governments in the most transparent countries around the world, with an increasing number of countries and cities following up on previously announced climate commitments by establishing mandatory energy efficiency and emissions standards for buildings. The research also found more widespread adoption of green and healthy building certifications, which we expect will continue to accelerate in the years ahead.”

European markets have made the most progress in sustainability through the implementation of the EU’s updated Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and other regulations including the European Green Deal. Paris, New York City and London topped the sustainability sub-index as the world’s leading cities to set the pace in adopting measures to raise or track progress toward sustainability goals. In particular, New York City has been active in implementing clear, long-term building energy standards through measures that include Local Laws 84 and 97, the Construction Codes Revision Bill and mandating the tracking of energy consumption at the building level. 

For the first time in the Index’s history, Japan has been included in the list of ‘Highly Transparent’ markets, as it pushes forward net zero carbon goals through higher building standards and transparency around climate risk reporting. Meanwhile, the UAE markets of Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the top global improvers in 2022 benefiting from a concerted government focus on increasing real estate transparency. As a result, Dubai makes its first appearance in the ‘Transparent’ tier.

China - SH/BJ = Shanghai and Beijing
Note: Lower score = greater adoption
Source: JLL, LaSalle, 2022

JLL and LaSalle's Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI), which is published every two years, is a unique benchmark of market transparency for property investors, developers and corporate occupiers. The index evaluates the legal and regulatory environment, enforcement mechanisms and data availability and provides a global comparison of operating conditions across a wide range of geographies. This year’s 12th edition includes 254 individual indicators to assess market transparency across 94 countries and territories and 156 cities globally.