Market Analysis
OCTOBER 2023
By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
Asia Pacific REITs slumped to another loss in October 2023 in USD terms, which brought the total return performance to -13.4% so far this year.
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SEPTEMBER 2023
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
Asia Pacific’s top 100 most traded REITs dropped 5.3% in September, underperforming the region’s equities but outperforming global REITs, as inflationary pressure raised the prospects of more interest rate increases.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
All relevant countries achieved negative returns, ranging from -0.8% for Malaysia to -8.9% for Thailand.
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5 TOP PERFORMERS IN SEPTEMBER
WORST 5 PERFORMERS IN JULY
AUGUST 2023
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
The market had been volatile because of mixed views over the interest rate outlook. China’s economic outlook had become a concern among investors.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
The GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index fell 2.5% in August 2023, suffering a setback in sentiment after the 3.5% gain realised in the previous month. On a positive note, the underperformance of Asia Pacific REITs versus regional equities eased.
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5 TOP PERFORMERS IN August
WORST 5 PERFORMERS IN JULY
JULY 2023
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
Global REITs rose 3.3%, and Asia Pacific REITs climbed 3.7% in July, reversing the previous month’s losses but underperformed general equities, as investors’ risk appetite increased.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
Asia Pacific REITs rebounded in July 2023 (3.5%) from losses in May 2023 (-3.6%) and June 2023 (-0.9%). There was underperformance for the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index versus regional equities that advanced 4.9%. Diversified (4.1%), Office (3.9%) and Retail (3.5%) were the three top-performing sectors in July 2023.
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5 TOP PERFORMERS IN JULY
WORST 5 PERFORMERS IN JULY
JUNE 2023
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
In June, global REITs underperformed global equities. Positive investor sentiment in equity markets, especially in the U.S., had buoyed equities’ performance. On the other hand, global REITs continued to be clouded by the prospects of higher interest rates.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
The USD-denominated underperformance of Asia Pacific REITs versus regional equities widened in the April-June period. GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index’s 0.9% decline in June 2023 brought the total return performance for the second quarter to -2.4%. Regional equities returned 3.5% last month and 1.4% in the second quarter respectively.
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5 TOP PERFORMERS IN JUNE
WORST 5 PERFORMERS IN JUNE
MAY 2023
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
Global REITs, including Asia Pacific REITs, underperformed equity markets after tech and AI-related stocks climbed.
Japan REITs were the best-performing in the region on the back of increased overseas investors’ interests in local assets.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
The GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index fell 3.6% in May, erasing its April gain. It was also doom and gloom on a sectoral level, with losses ranging from -2.2% for Residential to -6.5% for Retail.
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APRIL 2023
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
Asia Pacific’s top-100 most traded REITs rose 2.6% in April, benefitting from a more benign economic and monetary environment. Australia and Japan REITs were the leading performers, with gains of 4.6% and 2.8%, respectively
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
With the exception of Healthcare (-1.4%), the relevant sectors contributed to the overall benchmark’s total return performance, with Residential (7.0%) in the lead:
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MAR 2023
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
Asia Pacific REITs underperformed Asia Pacific equities. Australian REITs were the worst performers among Asia Pacific REITs, down 6.9%, as the RBA continued to raise the benchmark policy rate in March.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
The GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index’s 2.3% decline in March 2023 brought the total return performance for the first quarter to -1.9%. Although Asia Pacific REITs started the calendar year in the black (5.1%), but this reversed in February 2023 (-4.5%) and March 2023 (-2.3%). Office and retail were the worst performers in the first quarter
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FEB 2023
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
Asia Pacific’s top-100 most-traded REITs dropped 4.5% but outperformed equities in February, which came under pressure due to concerns that higher interest rates will impact global economic growth.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
February’s market action was a reversal from January 2023’s. The GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index declined (-4.5%) in the calendar year’s second month, in sharp contrast to the 5.1% gain realised in January 2023
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JAN 2023
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
While global REITs climbed 9.2% in January and outperformed equities, Asia REITs, as measured by the top 100 most traded REITs, gained just 4.8%, dragged lower by J-REITs.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
Asia Pacific REITs added 5.1% in January 2023, with the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index recording its best start to a calendar year since 2019. Hotels, industrials were best-performing sectors.
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Dec 2022
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
Global REITs were down 24% compared to Asia Pacific’s 18% drop in 2022. In December, Hong Kong REITs were the best-performing in the Asia Pacific region.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
2022 was tumultuous; characterised by geopolitical tensions, interest rate hikes and inflation concerns. A turnaround that began in October 2022 turned out to be short-lived. A comparative analysis for the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index showed that Asia Pacific REITs added 1.2% in USD terms in December 2022, which did not help much as the calendar year’s total return performance came to -17.8%
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NOV 2022
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
Hong Kong and China REITs led gains in Asia Pacific in November after the Chinese government relaxed Covid controls and provided some funding support for its distressed real estate developers.
REITs with China exposure gained grounds.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
The GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index rebounded with strong gains, rising 8.8% in November, but underperforming equities, which returned 15%.
The industrial sector registered the most gains, up 10.7%, followed by diversified assets which climbed 8.8%.
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OCT 2022
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
After a sharp decline in capital markets in September, there was some reprieve in October. Investors seemed to have discounted the prospects of further interest rate hikes, with the market consensus moving towards the projection that the pace of the rate hikes will start to slow and peak by Q2 2023.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
Most sectors finished the month negatively whereas Diversified (0.3%) and Hotel (1.1%) edged higher:
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SEP 2022
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
The best-performing REIT for the month was Invincible Investment Corporation, which rose 1.8%. Hotel assets make up about 90% of the REIT’s portfolio. Other hotel REITs that performed well included Ichigo Hotel REIT, which climbed 0.5% and Japan Hotel REIT Investment which rose 0.4%.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
Industrials down sharply while the hotel sector showed resilience as countries eased Covid restrictions to allow travel.
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Aug 2022
By Victor Yeung, Chief Investment Officer, Admiral Investment Limited and Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Real Estate and Construction, The University of Hong Kong
Despite REITs’ volatility during the month, earnings season showed steady rental and earnings growth
The top 100 most-traded REITs in the Asia Pacific dropped 4% in August, compared to a fall of 1.4% by the MSCI AC Asia Pacific following Jerome Powell’s hawkish Jackson Hole message.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
Across the region, only Thailand REITs registered growth for the month; losses were seen in all sectors
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JULY 2022
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Asia Pacific REITs jumped 6.9% during the month, beating equities’ 1.1% rise. Australian REITs shined, rising 12%
Despite the rising inflationary pressure, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and slowdowns in major regions such as the US, Europe and China, Asia Pacific REITs are still expected to outperform going forward.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
The Industrial and Healthcare sectors posted the strongest recovery during the month
The Hotel and Office sectors, meanwhile, posted the softest recovery during the period.
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JUNE 2022
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Australia was worst-performing after falling 12.7%, Singapore down 2.4%
Despite the 8.3% drop in June, the region’s REITs still managed to outperform the equities’ 9.5% decline.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
All sectors recorded declines during the month and for the quarter with industrial sector the worst-performing
For both the month and the quarter’s data, the Hotel sector came as the best performer.
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MAY 2022
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Australian REITs down, while Hong Kong and Japan’s REITs climbed.
Generally, REITs were down on concerns about rising interest rates and uncertainties surrounding the economic outlook.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
Industrial and HealthCare sectors fell during the month.
On the other hand, the Residantial, Hotel and Retail sectors showed strength in May.
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APRIL 2022
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Singapore and Hong Kong were the region’s best-performing REITs.
Asia Pacific REITs’ performance fell by 5% versus a 6.4% decline for Asia Pacific equities.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
Negative performances were seen across all sectors during the month
Residential and Industrial REITs recorded the largest declines during the month, while the Hotel and Retail showed the smallest dip in performance for April.
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MARCH 2022
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Safe haven’ markets like Singapore and Australia drove the strong Asia Pacific REIT performance during the period.
Going forward, REITs are seen to benefit from inflationary expectations and demand for real assets. The Russia-Ukraine war also highlighted the need for supply chain security and onshoring of manufacturing bases, which stimulates further investment in logistics assets.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
Tables have turned from the trends in the early part of the pandemic, as the industrial sector posted the worst performance while the hotel sector led wins during the quarter.
Gains during the month of March 2022, meanwhile, ranged from 1.7% for Office to 6.8% for Healthcare.
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FEBRUARY 2022
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Among major REIT markets in the region, only Australian and Singapore REITs climbed in February
The Ukraine invasion and the subsequent sanctions led to high volatility across various asset classes. Australia and Singapore – which are considered safe haven markets – were the top choice for REIT investments.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
The hotel and retail sectors – which were lagging in the early pandemic bouts – led the growth during the month
The positive development in these two sectors offset the losses for Residential and Industrial sectors.
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JANUARY 2022
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Markets all over the world opened 2022 in negative territory, but REITs posted bigger declines than equities in January.
Asia Pacific equities fell 4.9% during the month, but Asia Pacific REITs reported a larger drop at 7.4% in January.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Managing Director at Global Property Research
Declines were seen across all sectors, led by Industrial REITs’ double-digit contraction in January
Hotel and Office REITs posted the lowest deterioration while Industrial and Healthcare REITs declined the most during the month.
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DECEMBER 2021
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
For 2021, global REITs rose 35.3%, outperforming global equities’ 22.3% increase.
Looking at the sector performances for December 2021, Industrial recorded the largest gain at 8%. Office and hotel REITs, meanwhile, trailed at 0.7% and 0.1%, respectively.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Industrial recorded the largest gain last month followed by healthcare and residential.
Looking at the sector performances for December 2021, Industrial recorded the largest gain at 8%. Office and hotel REITs, meanwhile, trailed at 0.7% and 0.1, respectively.
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NOVEMBER 2021
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Investors sought to diversify during uncertain times. Of the developed REIT markets, Hong Kong is the best-performing in the region.
Concerns about inflation and whether central bankers would start to reverse the ultra-loose monetary policies, as well as the emergence of a new Covid-19 variant, pushed global equities down during the month.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Healthcare Is Only Sector in Positive Territory; Hotel Falls 10.7%
Asia Pacific REITs started positively in November, but emerging pushed the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index into the red.
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OCTOBER 2021
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Australia and Singapore REITs led performance regionally as their borders re-open.
This development benefited Australia’s retail REITs such as Vicinity Centres and Shopping Centres Australia, and Singapore’s hospitality REITs such as Ascott Residence Trust and CDL Hospitality Trust.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Hotel and Retail were the best-performing sectors during the month, while Office and Diversified lagged.
Overall, Asia Pacific REITs recovered from the loss recorded in the preceding month.
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SEPTEMBER 2021
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Hong Kong REITs were worst-performing amid speculation that the Chinese government pressured property tycoons to help solve local housing issues.
Overall, the Asia Pacific REIT market was dragged down primarily by rate-hike concerns and a slowing economic growth outlook.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Industrial REITs were the most affected during the month, and were down 6.8% in September but up 0.2% in the third quarter
Hotel and Retail REITs, meanwhile, performed best during the month with relatively minimal losses.
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Data and Chart from Global Property Research
The top five best-performing REITs are largely from Australia and Thailand.
Data and Chart from Global Property Research
The five worst-performing REITs are from the Japan and Singapore.
AUGUST 2021
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Overall, AsiaPac top-100 most traded REITs held their ground even as some Chinese stocks fell
As Australia’s direct property market has been strong for several months, selected property types are seeing cap rate compressions, which influenced REITs’ valuations.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Asia Pacific REITs rose 1.0% in August 2021 with the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index setting another all-time high. HealthCare was the best-performing sector with a 3.2% gain
Asia Pacific REITs did however underperform regional equities during the period.
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Data and Chart from Global Property Research
The five best-performing REITs are from the hospitality, commercial, industrial, and office sectors.
Data and Chart from Global Property Research
The five worst-performing REITs are from the diversified, industrial, and retail sectors.
JuLY 2021
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Global REITs gained 4.7% in July as interest rates stayed low.
Asia Pacific’s top-100 most invested REITs outperformed equities in July, apart from Australian REITs, which fell 3.4%. Australian REIT’s 3.4% decline was more extensive than Australian equities’ 1.3% drop, as renewed lockdown in various cities and states wreaked havoc on listed property owners and REITs.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Industrial REITs led the pack with 4.6% gains in July.
Industrial was the best-performing sector with a 4.6% gain, with Retail (-2.0%) at the negative end of the spectrum. The Office sector was the second best-performing during the period, followed by Residential.
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Data and Chart from Global Property Research
The top five best-performing REITs are from the residential, logistics, retail and diversified sectors.
Data and Chart from Global Property Research
The five worst-performing REITs are from the office and retail sectors.
June 2021
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
For the first half of 2021, Asia Pacific REITs rose 9.4%, better than Asia Pacific equities’ 5.1% increase
Asia Pacific top-100 most invested REITs rose 2.1% in June, led by robust performance by Japanese REITs. Meanwhile, the region’s equity market fell 0.3% on concerns about possible US monetary policy outlook changes and a strengthening USD. Global REITs climbed 1.6% during the month.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Healthcare and industrials showed strong performance; DDMP REIT (Philippines) added to index.
Asia Pacific REITs finished the second-quarter of 2021 with a 6.3% total return performance in USD terms, led by healthcare and industrials which gained 9.8% and 7.8% respectively.
In June, the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index climbed 1.9% with an impressive 3% gain by industrial REITs.
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MAY 2021
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Most REITs in the Asia Pacific underperformed their equity counterparts except for those in Hong Kong. The resurgence of coronavirus infections, spurred by new strains, wreaked havoc in various countries, most notably in India, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Asia Pacific REITs kept their upward momentum. However, the region’s REITs were not able to outperform regional equities.
Healthcare registered robust gains while hotel and residential slumped during the month.
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APRIL 2021
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
The resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic in India and the renewed inflation scare could cloud the outlook for the global markets. Despite such concerns, the post-pandemic economic recovery is expected to continue, which should be positive for global REITs.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Again, the regional REITs outperformed the regional equities that returned 1.4%.
The office, healthcare and residential sectors were the best performing during the month, while the retail sector still lagged behind.
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March 2021
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Global markets climbed after investors shrugged off concerns about rising US bond yields and volatile commodity prices and focused on economic recovery in the developed world as vaccination rollouts saw progress, notably in the UK and the US.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Overall, the regional REITs outperformed the equity market.
Residential recorded the biggest win with a 4.3% gain while HealthCare and Retail were the two worst performers in March 2021.
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FEBRUARY 2021
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Hong Kong saw strong performance while Singapore slumped; global REITs outperformed equities.
While Asia Pacific REIT and equity performance was similar, globally, REITs outperformed equities.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Losses were registered for HealthCare (-1.8%) and Industrial (-3.7%), while the other sectors generated positive total return performances ranging from 0.6% for Residential to 11.2% for Hotel.
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JANUARY 2021
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Global capital markets rallied at the beginning of the year, riding on expectations of a global economic recovery and a more market-friendly Biden-led US administration.
Despite the strong 2021 start, financial markets faltered towards the end of January and ended the month with mixed performance due to concerns about a resurgence in coronavirus cases and delays to vaccinations.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Asia Pacific REITs declined in the opening month of 2021 with a marginal 0.3% loss. As measured by the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index in USD terms, declines were seen across retail, hotel and industrial sectors.
In contrast, healthcare performed the best during the month, expanding by 2.6% in January.
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DECEMBER 202O
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Among the Asia-Pacific REIT markets, Japan and Singapore REITs rose 7.2% and 4.2% respectively, outperforming each country’s general equities. Australian REITs also performed well with a 4.3% increase in December but underperformed the Australian stock market.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Hotel REITs suffered the biggest loss with an annual contraction of 21.1%, compared to the industrial sector’s 28.2% increase.
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NOVEMBER 202O
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Asia Pacific REITs, as indicated by the performance of the top-100 most traded REITs in the region, rose 9.8% in November, reversing October’s decline, However, REITs are still behind Asia Pacific equities in terms of performance as the latter gained 11.5% during the same period.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Asia Pacific REITs, as represented by the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index, ended up 9.7% higher in November 2020 on reports of successful vaccine trials and hopes that many or most parts of the economy will return to pre-Covid 9 pandemic conditions in the coming months.
The GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index moved in line with regional equities that were 10.2% up.
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OCTOBER 202O
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Asia Pacific REITs dropped 4.4% in October and lagged behind Asia Pacific equities. Among individual REIT markets in the region, Singapore REITs were the worst performers.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
The coronavirus pandemic continued to impact the total return performance for Asia Pacific REITs in October. Ultimately, the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index finished 4.2% lower, underperforming regional equities, which were up 1%.
Taiwan and China were the only REIT jurisdictions that managed to stay in the positive territory during the month.
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SEPTEMBER 202O
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Most countries’ REIT sector outperformed their respective equity market, except for Japan, where the country’s REITs saw a 0.6% drop, underperforming the country’s equity market, which returned 1.1%.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
The Asia Pacific GPR/APREA Composite REIT index closed the third quarter 7.2% higher, after a a 1.4% loss in September 2020.
Looking at the sector performances, Hotel (2.5%) and HealthCare (1.3%) were the only ones up during the month.
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AUGUST 202O
By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Looking at the sector performances, Industrial — a clear outperformer in the preceding month with a 15.1% gain —was now in negative territory (-1.4%).
Hotel (15.9%) turned out to be the best performing sector carve-out ahead of Retail (9.2%) and Office (7.4%)
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By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investment Limited
Most Asia Pacific REITs continued to record positive price performance as investors widely regarded the worst of the pandemic to be over, allowing for economies in the region to recover.
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JUly 202O
By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
The industrial sector’s outperformance boosted the regional REITs. They did not, however, manage to outperform local equities which added 4.6%.
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By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
Overall gains in the market were underpinned by positive sentiment over low-interest rates and a weakening US dollar. However, REITs’ advances still lagged regional equities, which climbed 3.4%.
Looking forward, a weak USD and low-interest rate expectations will underpin the future performance of Asia Pacific REITs.
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JUNE 202O
By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
AsiaPac REITs rose on the gradual relaxations of lockdowns as well as indications that the COVID-19 pandemic is seeing signs of stabilising. Some economies have also re-opened their borders with the creation of “travelling bubbles” between countries. However, AsiaPac REITs’ performance still lagged those of equities as markets’ appetite for risk rose. As we look forward, we expect Asia Pacific REITs to benefit from the gradually re-opening of the region’s economies.
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MAY 202O
By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Asia Pacific REITs were up 4.8% in May 2020, adding onto the 7.3% gain realised in the preceding month. Looking at sector performances, the industrial sector gained the most, up 10.2% in the month. Hotel was next with a 9.3% increase. Residential was up 8.5%, retail gained 1% and healthcare climbed 4.3%.
While the industrial sector continues to see demand due to a more prominent e-commerce trend during the lockdown period in most regions, some hotels in Asia Pacific have also started to re-open.
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By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
In May, REITs in Japan, Australia, and Singapore registered healthy gains, while Hong Kong REITs dropped 14% and underperformed local equities.
The China National People’s Congress passed the National Security Law for Hong Kong on May 28. While details of the law remained vague, it has already sparked a backlash from the U.S., which has said it plans to terminate its special economic and trading relationship with the territory. As the territory risks losing its autonomous status with China, market concerns over the outlook for Hong Kong and its property market have risen.
Hong Kong REITs’ losses were more than offset by gains in the other regions.
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APRIL 202O
By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Gains were recorded across all sectors during the month.
Asia Pacific REITs recovered from the heavy losses seen in the previous month, with the hotel sector staging a strong comeback, followed by retail REITs.
Gains for other sectors ranged from 0.2% to 15%, with the office sector showing the least gains. However, the regional REITs underperformed equities, which climbed 8.2% during the month.
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By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
Australia and Singapore REITs outperformed their countries’ equities.
The GPR/APREA Investable REIT Index reported a 7% increase in April after the coronavirus pandemic showed signs of peaking. Aggressive fiscal and monetary responses from governments and central banks around the world as well as early signs of the discovery of drugs against the virus also contributed to the gains.
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MARCH 202O
By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Across all sectors in the region, Hotel REITs performed the worst, followed by retail
The coronavirus pandemic impact is felt widely, putting all sectors in the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index into the negative territory in March. The hotel sector was the worst hit, leaving it 39.8% down compared to last year’s performance.
Hotels in the region were affected by falling occupancy rates and revenue per available room (RevPAR) due to lockdowns and travel bans across the world.
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By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
Markets to remain volatile for the coming months with news flow driving sentiment.
Overall, the GPR/APREA Investable REIT Index reported a 24% decrease in February versus MSCI AC Asia Pacific’s 12% decrease over the same period. Similar to global REITs, the COVID-19 pandemic hit Asia Pacific REITs particularly hard, with the retail and hospitality sectors being the most affected. Despite the prospects of lower global interest rates and simulative fiscal policies, the markets focused on the weakness of the global economy, with disruption to tourism and trade affecting REITs’ rental outlook.
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FEBRUARY 202O
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
Global equity markets have been hit hard by heightened concerns about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, as the situation escalated in mainland China and spread to more than 60 countries in February.
But REITs in Australia, Japan and Singapore were relatively resilient in February, outperforming general equities by 2.5%, 1.2% and 0.2%, respectively.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Fears over the coronavirus triggered a sharp fall (-7.3%) in the share prices of Asia Pacific REITs in the last week of February 2020.
Ultimately, the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index closed the month 7.5% down with at country level only Taiwan (1.4%) and Malaysia (1.1%) in positive territory. The regional REITs underperformed the regional equities that only lost 6.0%.
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JANUARY 202O
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
Global equity markets had a dismal start to the year.
The 2019-nCoV has hit Asia particular hard, as China’s lockdown affected tourism, transportation, and supply chains. Asia Pacific REITs’ outperformance reflected investors’ preference for defensive plays and REITs’ resilience at a time of uncertainty.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Retail, Hotel sectors down but Diversified and Industrials gain.
A comparative analysis for the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index showed that the regional REITs returned a 1.8% total return performance in USD terms in January 2020, outperforming the regional equities that contracted 2.8%.
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december 2019
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
Geopolitical tensions could support REIT performance in 2020 as investors seek defensive plays
For most of 2019, global REITs underperformed global equity markets as healthy U.S. economic growth and a benign interest rate environment supported stock investments. But in Asia Pacific, REITs outperformed equities.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Global Property Research
The Asia Pacific listed property sector ended 2019 with a total return performance growth of 22.8%, despite losing 0.5% in USD terms in the last month of the year, a comparative analysis for the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index showed.
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NOVEMBER 2019
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
Global equity markets continued to rally in November, helped by the U.S. Fed’s rate cut in end-October and a potential interim tariff agreement between China and the U.S. The agreement signalled a more stable Sino-U.S. relationship.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Global Property Research
Asia Pacific REITs took a pause on their six-month winning streak to post a 1.2% loss in USD terms in November. REITs, again, underperformed equities with the comparable MSCI AC Asia Pacific Index registering a 0.5% growth.
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OCTOBER 2019
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
The global capital markets continued to rally in October, helped by progress in the China-U.S. trade talks and expectations of further interest rate cuts. During the month, the U.S. agreed to suspend its next tariff hike on Chinese imports with plans to sign an interim trade agreement with China in November. The Fed also cut its policy rate by 25 basis points at its October FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting.The MSCI World Index rose 2.6% in the month.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Global Property Research
Asia Pacific REITs posted their sixth consecutive monthly gain in USD terms. As at 31 October 2019, REITs in the region advanced 2.7%. However, they still underperformed equities with the comparable MSCI AC Asia Pacific Index up 4.4%. With no additions and deletions throughout the month, the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index continued to cover 167 Asia Pacific REITs as at 31 October 2019.
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SEPTEMBER 2019
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
Global capital markets cheered after the U.S. Fed cut its benchmark rate by 25 basis points (bps) and trade talks between China and the U.S. showed signs of progress. Asia Pacific REITs’ outperformance is expected to return in October on the back of concerns over the global economic outlook and lower interest rate expectations.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Global Property Research
All countries, except for Australia, advanced in the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index, supporting overall gain for the region. Best performers were Taiwan, Thailand and Japan.
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AUGUST 2019
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
The sentiment for global capital markets deteriorated in August. The U.S. 30-year treasury bond yield fell bellow 2% for the first time. Meanwhile, the negative yield curve for Germany signalled weakness in the EU economy. These helped contribtue to Asia Pacific REITs’ outperformance against equities.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
Asia Pacific REITs were up 1.8% in August and outperformed equities during the period, according to Global Property Research. Hong Kong REIT index incurred the largest decline of 9.1% due to anti-extradition bill protests, while Thailand posted a solid gain of 10.3% in August.
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JUly 2019
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
The global geopolitical environment improved in July after the U.S. resumed trade talks with China and moderated its sanctions against Huawei. These events bolstered market sentiment. The MSCI World rose 0.5% in July after a 6.6% jump in June. But challenges are seen ahead.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst, Global Property Research
The aggregate gain for the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index was predominantly attributable to the increases recorded in Japan (3.6%), Malaysia (1.3%), China (0.9%) and Australia (0.6%). At the other end of the spectrum, there were contractions in Taiwan (-0.7%), Singapore (-1.4%), Thailand (-2.8%), and most specifically Hong Kong (-6.0%).
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JUNE 2019
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
Market expectations for a U.S. rate cut and an improvement in Sino-US trade relation helped fuel June’s rebound for equity markets, leading to underperformance of Asia Pacific REITs.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst, Global Property Research
Asia Pacific REITs advanced 4.8% in USD terms in June and underperformed equities with the comparable MSCI AC Asia Pacific Index returning 5.4%. As a result, the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index ended the second quarter 5.4% higher. This quarterly increase followed a 11.6% jump in Q1 2019.The table below shows the total return performances realised in the previous month for the various currencies available for the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index.
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MAY 2019
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
In May, geopolitics became a key concern dictating the global economic growth outlook. The trade war between the U.S. and China has worsened following a breakdown in tariff talks and a decision by the U.S. to put China’s Huawei on a trade blacklist. A “new Cold War” between the two economic powerhouses has emerged as both sides implemented new tariffs.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst, Global Property Research
With no additions nor deletions throughout the month, the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index continued to cover 164 Asia Pacific REITs as at 31 May 2019. Asia Pacific REITs advanced 2.2% in USD terms and as such clearly outperformed equities with the comparable MSCI AC Asia Pacific Index contracting 5.8%.
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APRIL 2019
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
Given the current policy environment, we may see cooling equity markets and a risk-off mode ahead, which will be supportive for the Asia Pacific REITs’ performance in the mid- to long-term.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst, Global Property Research
Asia Pacific REITs contracted 1.6% in USD terms and underperformed equities, with the comparable MSCI AC Asia Pacific Index adding 1.6%.
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MARCH 2019
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
A concerted effort by governments and central banks to maintain growth through easier monetary and fiscal policies have helped to bolster Asia Pacific REIT’s performance in March.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst, Global Property Research
Asia Pacific REITs advanced 4.1% in USD terms and outperformed equities with the comparable MSCI AC Asia Pacific Index returning 1.3%. As a result, the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index ended the first quarter 11.6% higher.
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FEBRUARY 2019
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
Asia Pacific REITs have underperformed the region’s equity indices in February, with the GPR/APREA Investable REIT Index reporting -0.4%, compared to MSCI Asia Pacific’s +1.4%. On a year-to-date basis, Asia Pacific’s REITs have also underperformed the region’s equity indices.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst, Global Property Research
Further to the removal of Dolmen City REIT (Pakistan) that no longer met the size criteria, the comprehensive GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index covered 165 Asia Pacific REITs as at 28 February 2019. In February, Asia Pacific REITs lost 0.3% in USD terms, underperforming equities, with the comparable MSCI AC Asia Pacific Index adding 1.4%.
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JANUARY 2019
By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research, Admiral Investments
The year 2019 started with a surprise stock market rally across the world, with the MSCI World reported an 8% gain for January. The markets have discounted most of the negative news about slower economic growth and global geopolitical issues. Instead, participants have focused on expectations of a slower pace of increases in U.S. interest rates and a possible reversal of the Fed policy stance.
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By Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst, Global Property Research
The comprehensive GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index, which covered 166 Asia Pacific REITs as at 31 January 2019, recorded a 7.5% gain in USD terms, and as such outperformed the broader equities with the comparable MSCI AC Asia Pacific Index adding 6.8%.
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