Major growth forecast as the listed property sector reports above-average returns THE South African listed property sector presents an attractive opportunity to investors and is likely to follow the trend in Australia, where the property sector has shown enormous growth on the Australian Stock Exchange, says Richway Retail Properties CEO Peter Blanckenberg.

PRIMEGRO SET TO DOMINATE RETAIL PROPERTY OWNERSHIP

PARAMOUNT Property Fund on the Acquisition Trail Paramount Property Fund (Paraprop), listed on the JSE Securities exchange earlier this year and rated one of South Africa's top property funds, is on the acquisition trail to boost its portfolio of properties to R1-billion by end October.

GIVEN the poor performance of equity markets worldwide, many SA investors with money offshore are now questioning the wisdom of their overexposure to this asset class.

PREDICTIONS made in April and May this year by Mike Flax, Interest rates would drop and further boost the listed property fund sector, have now been proved correct.

The operations of Allan Gray Property Trust (Grayprop) and Allan Gray Property Investments (Grayvest) are to be merged, it was announced on Friday.

SA's R8bn listed property market is poised to see prolific growth in the next few years if it continues to follow Australian market trends.

THE property sector is regaining its popularity as an investment class, says Nedcor Investment Bank corporate finance specialist Ernest Matthewson.

South African companies are well-positioned to capitalise on consultancy opportunities in Africa, but they should transfer skills when they win the contract, writes columnist Andrew Maggs.

JHI’s expansion into property management beyond the borders of South Africa has received a major boost, having recently being awarded the contract to manage the R200 million Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) property portfolio.