Property Trusts Hit Hard By US Crash
Melbourne Herald Sun reports: The crash in American asset values, and to a lesser extent, those in Japan and Europe, has sent many Australian companies scurrying back to home base, cutting their losses on the way.
According to US property research house Real Capital Analytics, Australian listed property trusts (now called A-REITs) pumped more than $47 billion into American property. This $2.7 trillion market has fallen by more than 18 per cent this year and more than half of assets have dropped 25 per cent of their value.
After revaluing their portfolios at the end of the June 2009 financial year, companies with big exposures to the US market, such as shopping centre owners Westfield and the embattled Centro, recorded big hits.
The value of Westfield's portfolio fell to $15.31 billion from $19.35 billion in the six months since December. And Centro Properties suffered an 18.2 per cent fall in the value of its shopping centres which are now worth $10.16 billion.
View the full article on Melbourne Herald Sun: Property Trusts Hit Hard By US Crash
Posted by: Mark Alferman