Knowledge Hub

COVID-19 impacts are being felt across the REIT space. However, sectors will be impacted differently by both COVID-19 itself and the behaviors and measures that will be taken to address the outbreak. While at the time of this writing, REITs are likely oversold, pricing in the REIT market is diverging between property types, which could point to the future direction of private market values.

Please find the constituent changes to the GPR/APREA Indices, which will become effective as of 22 June 2020 (start of trading). 

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought much of the world and many of the key gateway markets in Asia that we discuss in this paper, to a near standstill. It has been an almost domino effect, where the health crisis has led to an economic and financial crisis. However, out of crisis can emerge new and interesting opportunities, as can be seen in the GDP forecast for 2020 and 2021, with China and Hong Kong, in particular indicatively forecasting the widest jump of over 700 bps – a clear indication of economic growth potential and the opportunities that will come with it.

Despite the slowdown in real estate markets accelerating across most of the world into the second quarter of the year, acquisition trends in two key global cities, both in China, have turned positive. Global volumes started to wane around March this year, but the weakness in Asia Pacific had already been apparent for some time, as all of the region’s top 10 metros suffered double-digit declines in the first quarter. In contrast, more than half of the key metros in Europe and the U.S. recorded an increase in transaction activity, as economic shutdowns and travel restrictions were implemented later in the quarter.