Real Estate Returns Reached 28% In 2004

by Carla Johnson, Investors Offshore.com

13 January 2005

Global property stocks posted a 3.1% total return in December, taking the annual return of the European Public Real Estate Association's (EPRA) benchmark index to 28%, comfortably beating returns from most other asset classes.

The EPRA index consists of the 243 largest and most traded real estate stocks in Asia, Europe and North America.

Of the three regions, real estate stocks in Europe returned the best results, returning 41.7%, with Asian and North American stocks returning 27% and 23.9% respectively.

Within Europe, the country with the best real estate returns was Sweden at 48.8%, followed by the UK (46%), and France (41.9%).

Meanwhile, the recovery in Hong Kong’s property market helped to bolster Asian performance, with the EPRA/NAREIT Hong Kong index returning 35.2%.

Asian figures were also boosted by a 34.4% return from Australian real estate stocks, and Japan, where growth in tax-friendly J-REITs helped returns reach 31.2%

US real estate stocks returned 33.8% in 2004 in US dollar terms.

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