Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa June 2013 | Page 57

REI Offshore

Look To Offshore
Opportunities

Global Commercial Property
Market

No More Restrictions In
Mexico

S o ut h A f r ic a n i n v e s t o r s l o o k i n g fo r
opportunities in the current world of low
yield should consider global property funds
as part of their portfolios.
Global property has been a hot topic over
the past couple of months. Interest in the
asset class has not only been driven by stellar
returns, but also by the attractiveness of
global valuations relative to that of its local
counterparts.Giving an outlook of global
proper t y f u nds, Ur su l a Ma r it z , Ch ief
Investment officer at Southern Charter says
that the good performance of these funds is
expected to continue throughout the course
of the rest of 2013. Maritz says although
the global listed property market as a whole
isn’t cheap, it isn’t at a premium to Net Asset
Value, unlike in 2008, and there are of plenty
of regional opportunities.

Commercial real estate continues to rank high
on the list of acquisitions for investors around
the world as preliminary global real estate
investment volumes in the first quarter of 2013
reached R838 billion (US$94 billion).
That’s according to Jones Lang LaSalle capital
markets research from 60 countries. The
real estate investment volumes in Q1 2013
represented an 8 percent increase over the same
quarter in 2012.
Improving confidence in the global economic
recovery and a continued demand for direct
real estate exposure continue to push volumes
higher with Germany, Japan, and the United
States all finishing the quarter strong. All
regions show increases over a year ago with the
Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa
(EMEA) and Asia Pacific (AP) all between 7-8
percent higher than one year ago.

Mexico is on course to change the rules that
restrict foreign buyers from buying property on
coastal plots and its borders.
The lower house of congress has voted to loosen
the longstanding restrictions but change still
needs to be approved by the Senate and by
Mexico’s 32 state legislatures.
Currently the only way foreigners can buy much
sought after beachside property is through front
companies as Article 27 of the Constitution
prohibits non-Mexicans from directly owning
land within 31 miles of the coast and 62 miles of
the nation’s borders.
The change would allow foreigners to buy
beachside property for residential purposes but
they would not be allowed to buy commercial
property. The aim is to encourage more foreign
investment, draw more overseas visitors and
boost the real estate sector. There are already a
large number of foreign owned holiday homes
in the country.

Valuable Input

Ursula Maritz, Chief
Southern Charter
“Currently offshore
property, which is a
well diversified asset
class, offers yields of
around 4.5% which is
far more attractive than
10 year bonds yields in
most major developed
countries and should
attract investor flows in
their search for yield.”
www.reimag.co.za

Dr Andrew Golding,
CE, Pam Golding
“Apart from its
ideal climate and
spectacularly scenic
setting, the island of
Mauritius is globally
acknowledged as a
successful financial,
business, information,
communication and
trading hub in the
Indian Ocean region.”

David Fischel, CE,
Intu Properties
“Although the UK retail
environment remains
difficult we have strong
momentum across
the business‚ with the
rollout of our digitally
integrated customer
experience and our
£1bn pipeline of
development projects.”

Mike Smuts, MD,
Smuts & Taylor
“When you are
considering
international
investment and
wondering where to
put your money, you
know that London is
the new “Swiss bank
account”. You know
your money is going to
be safe.”

Scott Picken, CEO
IPS Invest
“Offshore property
seems to get more and
more complicated.
Bottom line is there is so
much to consider when
investing offshore and
you have to have the
right information and
the right partners to
succeed.”

June 2013 SA Real Estate Investor

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