Dominique Moerenhout, CEO of the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITweek: 2018 Investor Conference in New York.
Moerenhout described the European listed real estate sector as “very healthy,” offering a strong and stable dividend yield and long-term performance that have been supported by a recovering European Union (EU) economy.
Following 21 initial public offerings (IPOs) in Europe in 2017, Moerenhout said he expects the trend to continue: “We see a lot of potential IPOs in 2018 in different sectors.”
Germany, the United Kingdom (UK), and France remain the main players in Europe. Indeed, Germany is now home to the largest listed real estate sector in Europe, Moerenhout pointed out. He also noted that some large institutional investors are taking an increased interest in peripheral markets, including Spain and Italy.
In terms of property sectors, Moerenhout said logistics and industrial real estate are growing “massively” thanks to e-commerce. Other sectors, including hotel/lodging, student housing, and health care are also seeing growth.
Meanwhile, EPRA continues its investor outreach efforts in Asia, where it has developed a “solid bridgehead” in recent years, according to Moerenhout. “Asian investors have an increasing appetite for the listed real estate sector, whereas several years ago they only contemplated direct real estate investments,” he said.