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Saturday, 18 September 2021
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The concept of 'activity-based working', where several people occupy one seat on a particular day, is gone. Businesses will need more space for the same number of people as an offset to the decline in demand.
Many listed property stocks were hard hit by COVID, especially in retail, but foot traffic outside Victoria has held up relatively well. Some sectors are now good value for the recovery and less working from home.
Retail assets, particularly those focused on discretionary shopping, will continue to underperform and industrial and logistics assets will be the winners for the foreseeable future.
The investment opportunity in listed ‘real assets’ in Australia is almost $250 billion. Offices, roads, warehouses, airports, pipelines and shops are the foundation of economic growth.
The listed property market, or A-REITs, is far from homogeneous, with low rates and industry trends producing winners and losers. There's more to investing here than chasing property yields.
With cash and term deposit rates at all-time lows, and fixed interest bonds not much better, investors are looking for ‘bond proxies’ to deliver more income. But is ‘proxy’ a misnomer, and what are they anyway?
Listed Australian Real Estate Investment Trusts (A-REITS) had an excellent FY19, but performance was dominated by a few sectors, and the question is whether they can deliver again in FY20.
With a vast array of property choices across retail, industrial, office and commercial, where does the head of one of Australia's largest property managers see the best opportunities, and where are the warnings?
As interest rates remain low and foreign buyers come looking for assets, listed property has performed well, but asset allocators can move in and out of the sector based on other factors.
There is more to listed property than the top eight in the A-REIT Index with many strong performing smaller trusts outside the top 80% of the index, and other A-REITs not even included in the index.
A-REITs have been particularly hard hit by bond rate increases, but most are in much better shape than they were during the GFC. Investors should assess the improved value, but not all listed property trusts are equal in quality.
Given the strong returns from most real estate markets in recent years, investors are asking whether there is more upside potential in this cycle, and what is likely to do well.
Who knew? With some surprise results, the Government is on unexpected firm ground in asking people to draw on all their assets in retirement, although the comments show what feisty and informed readers we have.
It's a remarkable statistic. In any year since 1875, if you had invested in the Australian stock index, turned away and come back eight years later, your average return would be 120% with no negative periods.
Never stand between Australian households and an uncapped government programme with $3 billion in ‘free money’ to build or renovate their homes. But excess supply is coming with an absence of net migration.
Picking macro trends is difficult. What may seem logical and compelling one minute may completely change a few months later. There are better rewards from focussing on identifying the best companies at good prices.
The RBA Governor says rising house prices are due to "the design of our taxation and social security systems". The OECD says "the prolonged boom in house prices has inflated the wealth of many pensioners without impacting their pension eligibility." What's your view?
Some high-quality companies have emerged even stronger since the onset of COVID and are well placed for outperformance. We call these the ‘COVID Opportunists’ as they are now dominating their specific sectors.