Asia’s property markets is about to be hit by the global economic downturn with apartment prices and office rents in Hong Kong and Singapore set to slow by more than -20% by the end of 2009, according to a Reuters’ poll.

Tokyo’s residential prices are forecast to fall -10% by the end of next year while Grade A office rents and capital values are seen slipping by up to -5%, according to the poll. Hong Kong’s residential property prices, already down -15% from a peak earlier this year, are set to drop -20%. In Singapore, home prices fell -2.4% in Q3 2008, marking the end of a four-year housing boom, and will drop another -21% by the end of 2009, according to Reuters.

The downturn in Asian property lags the end of the property boom in the United States and Europe but will be felt more keenly next year. In comparison, Reuters’ polls forecast a -6.4% drop in US house prices in 2009 and a -10% decline in UK house prices.

Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan are all now officially in recession. In Japan, more than 400 small and medium-sized developers and real estate firms have gone out of business in the past year as the residential market has turned down and as tighter credit has made it harder to finance property deals.