HONG KONG, Sept 1 (Reuters) – Asia’s total market
capitalisation for real estate investment trusts (REITs) rose by
a quarter in the first six months to $69 billion, global property
services firm CB Richard Ellis said on Wednesday.
However, the weighted average dividend yield for Asian REITs
contracted to 6.86 percent in the first half of 2010 from 8.06
percent during the same period last year, U.S.-based CBRE (CBG.N)
said in a statement.
“The fortunes of Asian REITs still remained mixed. During the
first half of the year, some markets have seen strong growth in
IPO and acquisition activity and others have witnessed delisting
applications, mergers and consolidations,” said Andrew Ness,
executive director at CBRE Research Asia.
“REITs in Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Hong Kong outperformed
their respective stock markets, all of which suffered downward
adjustments in the second quarter amid concerns over the pace of
the global economic recovery,” Ness said.
Acquisitions in the market totalled $5.7 billion during the
first half of 2010, surpassing the $4.2 billion recorded for the
whole of 2009, with Japan being the most active market for asset
purchases, CBRE said.
Singaporean and Malaysian REITs were active buyers of office,
retail, industrial and healthcare assets while REITs in Hong
Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Thailand remained inactive, it
said.
While a few REITs were delisted, South Korea, Singapore and
Thailand saw new listings, such as Cache Logistics CAL.SI.
REITs invest in mainly commercial property and pay rent
collected from their properties to shareholders as a dividend and
also usually offer returns that are higher than yields of
government bonds.
(Reporting by Lee Chyen Yee; Editing by Ken Wills)
(See www.reutersrealestate.com for Reuters’ global service for
real estate professionals)
