Cushman & Wakefield said Monday that investments in the Asia-Pacific region’s offices in 2014 reached $72.5 billion, their highest since the financial crisis of 2007-2008.

“In the investors’ perception, the region’s core cities have become global investment destinations, with trophy buildings comparable to those like London and New York,” said Sigrid Zialcita, the company’s managing director of research for Asia-Pacific. The global real estate consulting firm predicted office investment volumes “to register a 5-10 percent growth in 2015.”

Although Tokyo and Sydney lead the market, Seoul was mentioned as a city with strong office investments.

Seoul offers a 6-7 percent yield (leveraged initial distribution yield) on its offices and has low interest rates. It attracted foreign interest last year in the form of notable maiden investments by sovereign funds and private equity players.

Shawna Yang, director of capital markets in Korea at Cushman & Wakefield, said Seoul had a total transaction volume of 5.5 trillion won last year, up 3 percent from 2013.

Transactions for prime-location buildings have successfully closed despite a high vacancy rate due to increased competition for good properties, Yang said, leading investment companies to look for nonoffice commercial buildings.

She added that investors would consider more value-added retail investment opportunities to diversify their real estate portfolios, and that domestic institutional investors would increase overseas asset investments.

By Sang Youn-joo (sangyj@heraldcorp.com)