Listed property is going from strength to strength. The property trust sector has shown 42% growth in the past year compared with the all-share index of -27%.

WHILE some of the better performing listed property loan-stock companies believe that there is room for a positive rerating, commentators say that this has already taken place and if there is another it will be small.

LISTED property loan stock company Primegro announced yesterday that its basic headline earnings a linked unit were down 4,7% for the six months to April 30 this year, attributing it to the fact that interest rates had not yet been cut by the Reserve Bank.

Durban - Investec Property Group (IPG) yesterday announced the R2.5 billion merger of Growthpoint and Primegro, which would create the largest loan stock company on the JSE Securities Exchange.

Move follows management buy-out by Clidet.

Property unit trusts (PUTs), as a proxy for property performance, have generated a 14.9% return in the year to end-March, sharply outperforming bonds, says Debbie Prinsloo of Investment Solutions, the country's largest multi-manager.

SHOPS for Africa, a listed property loan stock company on the JSE Securities Exchange SA, said at the weekend it had acquired a major share in Sammy Marks' Square, a shopping centre located alongside the State Theatre in the Pretoria central business district.

The long-awaited listing of large numbers of property portfolios held by institutions has begun.

DURBAN ApexHi Properties has acquired Maritzburg-based retail development Capital Centre for R20m. The acquisition is in line with the property holding company's strategy of investing in high-yielding instruments.

One could be forgiven for feeling more than a little jittery if directors in a company in which one had investments appeared to be dumping shares left right and centre.