Notes from the road: Real Estate in Central and Eastern Europe

COVID-19 and aggressive interest rate hikes over 2022 have weighed heavily on listed property domestically and abroad. Late in June, Luqman Hamid travelled to Central and Eastern Europe, where some of the SA benchmark heavyweights have made investments. These are his notes from the road.

7 Sept 2023

6 minutes

Luqman Hamid

The fast view

Given the numerous headwinds experienced within the global macroeconomic environment over recent years, it was encouraging to see that the major economies within Central and Eastern Europe continue to exhibit a high level of resilience.

Late in June, I travelled to Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, to kick the tires of some of the real estate assets owned by JSE-listed property companies, NEPI Rockcastle, Growthpoint Properties and Redefine Properties.

I made three key observations during my visit:

  • The investment theses for these offshore assets remain intact
  • Physical retail is not dead, despite increasingly bearish sentiment in recent years
  • Pockets of weakness do exist, with office, both home and abroad, continuing to be a concern

In this note, I dive into further details on each observation and share some insights from my meetings with the companies.


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Authored by

Luqman Hamid
More Notes from the road

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