Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa April/May 2019 | Page 51

OFFSHORE
LISTED
The European Parliament
urged EU member states in
March to curb money-laun-
dering in the bloc by end-
ing programs to sell visa
and passports, a step the
multi-billion-dollar industry
said would cause economic
damage. The recommenda- tion is part of a hard-hitting
report which also accused
seven EU countries of acting
as tax havens: Luxembourg,
Cyprus, Ireland, Malta,
Hungary, Belgium and the
Netherlands. – Reuters
‘Opportunities in property
are there for those pre-
pared to be active investors:
through diversifying into new
sectors, buying in different
cities (either abroad or tier
two, or both), and seeking as-
sets that can be redeveloped
or proactively managed. This
will allow the investor to re-
main a step ahead of the rate
tightening cycle, whose pace we suspect could be slower
than many assume.
Growthpoint is on-track
to meet its goal of 30%
offshore exposure and is
relying on its international
properties for growth going
forward. Little to no growth is
expected in the South African
market. ‘We had a little fore- sight into the tough domestic
economy we’re experiencing
currently. Internationalisa-
tion was one of our strategies
we developed.’ – Norbert
Sasse, CEO Growthpoint
Properties.
Rental growth due to thin
development pipelines and
better-than-expected occu-
pier demand, are now central
to the outlook for property
investment markets.’ – Knight
Frank’s Global Outlook 2019
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