European property funds have taken a battering over the past 18 months and investors have sought to cash out. A temporary freezing of redemptions has given managers breathing space and they’re using the time to convince investors to stick with them. Rachel Wolcott reports.

It’s back to basics for US and UK mortgage financing, with more transparency, a better alignment of risks through a mortgage’s life cycle, and attempts to revive sound securitization. Rachel Wolcott reports.

The vast market in distressed commercial real estate debt expected at the end of 2008 has yet to materialize not least because banks have been unwilling to offload their holdings. Potential investors are still in line for bargains. Phil Moore reports.

Substantial amounts of equity are piling up for commercial property. But the price needs to be right and the difficulty of accessing leverage is a serious impediment to mobilizing funds. Phil Moore reports.

Al Madina A’Zarqa, one of Oman’s largest developments, is part of the Sultanate’s plans to diversify its oil-centric economy. This project has already fallen behind schedule. Richard Russell, its newly appointed chief executive, speaks to Chris Wright about getting back on track.

Investors are busy in the country’s many retail, residential and hotel development opportunities, but in one source of funding – nearby Greece – local real estate investment companies are keeping money closer to home. Philip Moore reports.

Real estate investment trusts’ performance has seen better days. Julian Marshall considers which sectors have problems or potential.

Two of the world’s leading logistics developers have reached a turning point in their fortunes. ProLogis is restructuring its business in the face of the global downturn, while Gazeley’s new Middle Eastern owners could catapult the company into the big league. Stuart Watson reports.

As the UK market limps to the end of 2008, property valuations have once again come in for criticism. Opinion differs on whether values dropped too far, too fast or still have some way to go. Has valuers’ reluctance to face up to reality prevented the market from bottoming out and delayed a recovery? Rachel Wolcott reports.

Logistics: Everything in its proper place

Once a property paragon, Singapore’s CapitaLand has been confronted with fundamental questions about the viability of its business model. Will the complex structure that has served it so well ultimately diminish the company’s standing in Asian property? Chris Wright reports.

While much European commercial real estate is struggling, the logistics and warehousing sector has been comparatively buoyant. But in uncertain times, is the sector’s relative strength sustainable? Laurence Neville reports.

Over the past five years the world’s biggest investment management firms have increased allocations to property, propelling the asset class into the mainstream. Now the sector has stumbled, will they desert? Rachel Wolcott speaks to the largest asset managers active in real estate.

So far, the country’s economy has not been hit by the global downturn but analysts have been predicting trouble for some time. The country’s real estate sector will probably not escape unscathed. Philip Moore reports.

UK property: Valuers come under fire

Firms with large real estate portfolios are turning to specialists to manage their holdings and realize cost savings. Outsourcing is gaining in popularity as the global economy worsens – a boost for those companies up to the task of handling clients’ complex portfolios. Laurence Neville reports.

International derivatives exchange Eurex will launch property futures in the first quarter, a move that could improve liquidity. The first contracts will capture the annual returns on the IPD UK All Properties Total Return index. With the introduction of IPD Index futures, Eurex aims to work with present market participants to provide the benefits of an exchange-traded contract and to attract new market participants and liquidity.

The onset of winter has brought cold comfort for the world’s two largest commercial property services companies. Shares in CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) and Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) have taken a beating because of weak third-quarter results and fears that the real estate market might deteriorate further.

The future shape of the UK mortgage finance market remains uncertain despite the publication on November 25 of former HBOS chief executive James Crosby’s report, which recommends the introduction of a £100 billion government guarantee for mortgage-backed bonds to be issued in 2009 and 2010.

James Buckley as been appointed head of Asia property multi-manager at Schroders, a new position in the firm.

Land Securities has abandoned plans for a demerger and slashed the value of its portfolio by £1.7 billion. The UK’s largest property company had been planning a three-way split. However, announcing the company’s half-year results on 14 November, chief executive Francis Salway revealed that while the sale of its Trillium outsourcing division would go ahead, further demerger plans had been shelved.

Jon Lekander is the new head of the combined Indirect Investment Management team at Aberdeen Property Investors. This follows Aberdeen’s acquisitions of DEGI and Goodman Property Investors. Lekander was previously chief investment officer of Aberdeen Property Investors. Andrew Smith, former head of strategy at GPI, becomes chief investment officer. Rickard Backlund continues to lead the business.

Peter Hansell has joined Cairn Capital from Lehman Brothers’ global real estate group.

It has been an annus horribilis for most property professionals. However, closer examination reveals the odd patch of clear sky in an otherwise gloomy outlook. While most traditional property fund managers have been struggling to cope with collapsing asset prices and a flood of investor redemptions, the reverse is true for property hedge funds.

The impact of the credit crunch has been far-reaching, with global property markets left severely damaged. What started off as a largely isolated problem of the US sub-prime mortgage market and some structured credit intensified and spread across the globe over the course of 2008. The repercussions will continue to impede business and thwart growth in property throughout 2009.

When setting out to raise capital during one of the worst financial crises of the past 100 years, it helps to have a strong bank as a big shareholder. That’s what Klepierre, a French retail property specialist, found when it raised €356.2 million through a rights issue completed at the end of November.

Chinese real estate: the worst-performing sector in the worst-performing stock market in the worst-performing continent in the world this year. It was little surprise that a large part of the stimulus package China launched in October was designed to put local property back on an even keel.

Alison Carnwath is the new chairman of Land Securities, replacing Paul Myners who has left to become minister for the City after two years with the firm.

The decline in valuations in developed markets is causing some investors to take another look at opportunities in the US and UK but not necessarily at the expense of emerging market allocations.

A year ago Gulf economies were touted as being so uncorrelated with those of the rest of the world that they had little to fear from the credit crunch. Now even Dubai – which for so long seemed to operate under different economic forces from the rest of the planet – is facing a property crash.

Guy Powdrill has joined CB Richard Ellis from Goldman Sachs.

International derivatives exchange Eurex will launch property futures in the first quarter, a move that could improve liquidity.

The impact of the credit crunch has been far-reaching, with global property markets left severely damaged. What started off as a largely isolated problem of the US sub-prime mortgage market and some structured credit intensified and spread across the globe over the course of 2008. The repercussions will continue to impede business and thwart growth in property throughout 2009.

“This is the least costly path,” US Treasury secretary Hank Paulson told Sunday morning talk-show viewers when he was out selling his $700 billion bail-out package at the end of September. At the time, details of his plans for the US Treasury to buy impaired residential and commercial mortgage assets from banks were scant and concerns about the so-called Troubled Asset Relief Program’s (Tarp) wider impact were great.

ING Real Estate has appointed Robert Houston as chairman and chief executive of its global investment management business. Houston has replaced David Blight who has resigned to return to Australia. Houston is a founder of ING Real Estate’s investment management business in the UK.

The UK non-conforming mortgage market – colloquially known as sub-prime – was the only fully fledged non-prime mortgage market in Europe. It was one of the first sectors to suffer contagion from the US sub-prime crisis. Indeed, spreads on non-conforming RMBS began to widen in March 2007 – well before the generally acknowledged beginning of the credit crisis in August of that year. What has now become of that market? Can it ever be revived?

Bahrain-based Ahli United Bank’s real estate interests are not confined to the Gulf region. It is a growing powerhouse in property investment in Europe and an established force in Islamic mortgages in the UK. Elliot Wilson reports.

The firm’s long-established research operation, with a worldwide network of analysts, enables it to offer client-driven information on the whole range of real estate sectors. Laurence Neville reports.

It’s been all change in the real estate market since the last Euromoney/Liquid Real Estate poll was published. The cast of characters is largely the same, despite market turmoil. CB Richard Ellis has regained the top spot in global advisory and consultancy from Jones Lang LaSalle. The Los Angeles-based firm dominated in the global categories, such as valuation, letting, corporate real estate services, topping six. It also made a strong showing in western Europe and Asia.

The FTSE Group, in conjunction with the European Public Real Estate Association (Epra) and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit), is readying a new family of real estate indices for emerging markets. The indices, made up of listed property stocks, will be launched in December.

Indian property company DLF is expanding from a base of strength in a Delhi suburb to other booming cities. Returns will contract as interest rates and land prices rise but its high-quality product should keep it at the top of the heap. Elliot Wilson reports.

Immoeast’s recent purchase of Constantia Privatbank’s real estate division has set the stage for the next act in the Austrian investment manager’s growth story. Rachel Wolcott reports.

The firm has consistently proven itself in Chinese real estate in recent years, whether underwriting IPOs, advising on M&A, or making acquisitions in its own right. Chris Wright reports.

Royal Bank of Scotland’s Vesteda Residential Funding II commercial mortgage-backed securitization has shown that there is appetite for high-quality paper from well-known issuers. The €150 million five-year deal, executed in July, is the only externally placed CMBS in Europe this year, according to RBS. The single tranche of AAA-rated bonds was priced at 100 basis points over three-month Euribor.

Goldman Sachs’ strong client relationships and creative flare have enabled its real estate investment banking business to strengthen its franchise while competitors struggle to stay afloat. Rachel Wolcott reports.

The future of US mortgage agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is in the hands of politicians. Hours after the $200 billion bailout was announced in early September, Senate Democrats were calling for hearings to analyse the causes of the government-sponsored entities’ (GSE) demise. How the agencies look after the credit crunch abates – if they survive at all – will largely depend on whether the Republicans or Democrats are in charge after the November election.

The pall that has settled in over most of Europe has weakened the growth outlook for the Nordic region, home to NCC Property Development. The Stockholm-based company is performing well and Peter Wågström, its president, says there is no lack of opportunities. Laurence Neville reports.

Axa Reim has an impressive track record of mining gems from unpropitious soil and has identified real estate sectors it feels investors should be entering now with an eye to a market upturn. Duncan Wood reports.

GMAC Financial Services and its subsidiary Residential Capital (ResCap) announced the elimination of 5,000 jobs in the US as part of its survival plan as the downturn in the credit and mortgage markets persists. The move is part of ResCap’s plan to cut back its operation and adjust its lending to refocus its resources on strategic lending and servicing.

TriAlpha has brought out a property fund of hedge funds called the TriAlpha Global Property Strategy fund. It seeks to invest in hedge fund managers specializing in the global property sector. Its portfolio includes funds from Credit Suisse, Thames River and New Star.

Australia has come out of the credit crunch reasonably well: its biggest banks show no danger of collapse, it has been insulated by its heavy concentration of big resource stocks, and its housing finance industry has been built on more stable foundations than that in the US. One area that has taken a hit, though, is the listed real estate market.

Michael Neal has joined Henderson Global Investors as director of property for its £1.2 billion UK Retail Warehouse Fund. He comes from Goodman Property Investors, where he was responsible for the fund management of Goodman’s two retail park funds: the £550 million Goodman UK Retail Parks Trust and the Two Rivers Trust valued at over £200 million. Neal has spent over 14 years within the retail property industry, primarily working in the retail warehouse sector. He has also held positions at Hammerson, Sainsbury’s and Homebase.

Conditions are turning tough in Japanese listed real estate. The Topix Real Estate index dropped 23% from mid-May (its peak so far this year) to the end of August, and the TSE Reit index is down 32.2% year to date.

HDG Mansur has added two funds to its roster. The HDGM International Property Fund is modelled after HDG Mansur’s HSBC Amanah Global Properties Income Fund launched in 2002. This closed-end income fund will invest in a global portfolio of properties initially targeted in markets throughout the US and Europe. Denominated in US dollars, the fund’s core investment strategy will be to invest in single- and multi-tenant properties leased to major corporations with stable or improving credit. The fund will be targeted to high-net-worth individuals and institutions and will aim to raise in excess of $200 million.

Concerns have been mounting in recent months that the liquidity schemes offered by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England are being misused by borrowers and are thwarting the recovery of market-based funding, including the MBS market. Announcements from both central banks in September addressed those concerns but their respective timing – one coming before Lehman Brothers’ collapse and AIG’s rescue and the other afterwards – has resulted in a divergence of policy.

The government bailout of mortgage agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has made the case for covered bonds in the US less compelling. After the collapse of the government sponsored entities (GSE), the need for alternative funding methods should have been clear. Instead, with the debt of both entities tightening post-bail-out and the parallel tightening in Federal Home Loan Bank’s (FHLB) debt, covered bond issuance looks comparatively expensive.

KBC Asset Management UK will launch a Japan fund to take advantage of perceived future growth prospects. The seven-year closed-ended fund will invest principally in office, retail and industrial market sectors in Tokyo, Fukuoka, Osaka, and other big Japanese cities.

Property companies remain wary of derivatives

GE Real Estate has appointed Mark Hutchinson to be president of the newly created GE Real Estate International, covering operations in Europe and Asia.  

Property derivative volumes have rebounded, surpassing pre-credit crunch levels. This surge is driven mainly by hedge funds and institutional investors. However, the group of end-users that could benefit the most from these instruments has largely stayed out of the market. Have direct property owners missed a trick? Rachel Wolcott reports.