Listed property being outplayed by cash as dismal 2018 still haunts sector
Focus shifts to debt levels
Investors would have been better off putting their money in the bank than in listed property funds, with the sector having been outperformed by even cash so far in 2019. The R600bn listed property sector, which in 2018 suffered a loss of 25.26%, its worst performance in more than 20 years, is struggling to gain traction, dragged down by weak consumer demand, lack of investment growth, declining rentals and high debt levels. Investors were hopeful that the sector would recover in 2019 but so far it has been difficult. The listed property index has gained 0.22% and the all share 5.29%. Bonds have returned 5.1% and cash 3%. There has not been a sudden bounce in share prices since the national elections on May 8. Listed real estate investment trusts (Reits), which account for the vast majority of property stocks on the JSE, are selling assets and renegotiating loans as they try get their relative debt levels down. Resilient sell-off The sector was hammered in 2018 after a su...
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