REC global commentary
Growth slowed in January in all global securities markets, with Macquarie’s global property universe returning -0.4%.
European property shares have struggled to keep up with general equity markets (see three-month EPRA returns chart)
The chart above shows that European property companies’ weighting in the EPRA Global Index peaked at the end of 2006 following a plethora of London listings, at 22% of the index. Since then it has declined steadily to 16% now.
Asia, which avoided the other markets’ refinancing problems, peaked at 47% but has remained consistent at 40%, while North America recovered from its December 07 low point to its dominant level now, due to large equity raisings and retail investors’ appetite.