China's Evergrande tops world's most valuable real estate brand: report

Evergrande has become the world's most valuable real estate brand with its brand value more than doubling over the last year to US$16.2 billion, according to the latest report published Tuesday by Brand Finance, an independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy.

Evergrande is China's second-largest property developer and the owner of the Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao F.C. which won both the Chinese FA Super Cup and the Chinese Super League championship last season.

In addition to becoming the most valuable real estate brand in the world, Last year has also seen Evergrande emerge as the fastest-growing brand in the Brand Finance Real Estate 25 ranking at an eye-watering 118 percent. Other fast-growing brands included Longfor Properties (up 78 percent to US$4.8 billion), China Merchants Shekou (up 67 percent to US$1.3 billion), and Sun Hung Kai Properties (up 60 percent to US$3.9 billion) although each from lower bases.

The brand value of Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties (down 8 percent to US$7.8 billion) fell significantly over the last year, losing the number one ranking and dropping to third.

This change of fortune coincided with the brand's movement away from property development towards a focus on alternative business opportunities. This realignment represents a more brand-dependent long-term strategy based on operating various property services, and less focused on traditional property sales. Parent brand Dalian Wanda Group also saw its revenues drop over the past year.

David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance, said: "The global property market has endured cycles of boom and bust, and the Chinese property market is unlikely to be substantially different in the future. Evergrande is posed to ride the surge, but Dalian Wanda's move away from traditional property development represents an effort to build the value of their brand outside the cyclical nature of this industry."

The global real estate brand rankings are dominated by Chinese property developers, with the top nine most valuable real estate brands all from China.

Beyond the Chinese brands, the most valuable real estate brands in the world are the UAE's Emaar Properties, followed by American brands Simon Property Group and CBRE. Emaar Properties is publicly listed in the UAE and continues to attract significant brand value for its role in developing the Dubai Mall, the world's largest shopping mall, and the renowned Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. Simon Property Group and CBRE both operate a number of commercial real estate developments, focused on retail and offices.