European real estate stocks moved into the red – on a composite level - for the first time in 2008, according to the GPR 250 Europe Index and the EPRA/NAREIT Europe Index. Global Property Research (GPR) reported an overall dip of 1.6% for European property stocks, adding that the picture was mixed across Europe. Poland outperformed every other European country, recording an 11.5% return in March, with Switzerland a distant second with a return of 5.6%, while Italian property booked a return of 4.8%. While counties such as Finland, Spain, France and Belgium all booked modest overall returns in March, the GPR index was dragged down by heavy losses in the likes of Germany, Norway and Turkey. It should be noted that Norway’s poor performance was entirely due to the 13.8% loss booked by Norwegian Property, the only Norwegian stock included in the index. The same is true of Turkey, where Is REIT fell 19.7% in March. Spain may have hit black, but this was due to Metrovacesa’s return of 0.7% return for the month.
European real estate stocks moved into the red – on a composite level - for the first time in 2008, according to the GPR 250 Europe Index and the EPRA/NAREIT Europe Index. Global Property Research (GPR) reported an overall dip of 1.6% for European property stocks, adding that the picture was mixed across Europe. Poland outperformed every other European country, recording an 11.5% return in March, with Switzerland a distant second with a return of 5.6%, while Italian property booked a return of 4.8%. While counties such as Finland, Spain, France and Belgium all booked modest overall returns in March, the GPR index was dragged down by heavy losses in the likes of Germany, Norway and Turkey. It should be noted that Norway’s poor performance was entirely due to the 13.8% loss booked by Norwegian Property, the only Norwegian stock included in the index. The same is true of Turkey, where Is REIT fell 19.7% in March. Spain may have hit black, but this was due to Metrovacesa’s return of 0.7% return for the month.
The EPRA/NAREIT Europe Index recorded an even bigger drop for March, as European property stocks on the whole fell by 3.1%, which was also the first negative result for this year. France led the EPRA/NAREIT index, with a modest return of 0.8%, compared to losses across the board for the remaining countries in the index. Dutch property stocks were the biggest losers, dropping 3.2%, followed by Sweden’s fall of 2.2% and the UK, which fell 1.7%.
EPRA noted a massive discrepancy in the performance of individual property stocks, as French firm Societe de la Tour Eiffel led the best performers from Europe, by making a 16.76% gain for the month as investors rewarded its recent acquisitions. The UK’s Primary Health Properties came in a close second with a return of 14.65%, followed by the German property firms, Partrizia (14.6%) and Alstria Office (14.55%). These gains and other were more than offset by dramatic share price falls suffered by the likes of Italian firm Risanamento, which fell a staggering 32.66% in March, closely followed by Minerva’s loss of 27.27% and Invesco’s dip of 23.91%, EPRA said.
