LISTED property trusts are a force to be reckoned with in the WA property market and will continue to inject funds into the State in the year ahead according to real estate agent Colliers Jardine.
Almost 75 per cent of WA’s current $2.1 billion LPT investment has been bought since 1995, much of it in 1998.
Yet Colliers Jardine Research shows WA is still a relatively small player in terms of total listed property trusts investment, with local levels representing just 7 per cent of the total $29 billion value LPTs have accumulated Australia-wide.
Colliers Jardine research manager David Cresp said there were surprisingly few St George’s Terrace buildings owned by LPTs.
He said, while a significant number of major buildings were held by institutions, relatively few were listed vehicles. Only four CBD buildings and two suburban buildings were owned by listed trusts, Mr Cresp said.
“Major shopping centres are the biggest source of LPT investment in WA,” he said.
Retail property made up around 77 per cent of all trust holdings in WA.
Mr Cresp said over the next twelve months the focus would probably return to the office and industrial sector although LPTs were generally only interested in properties that fell within the $10 million-plus range, of which their were very few in WA.
Mr Cresp said, while increasing interest rates would make it harder for LPTs to purchase property over the next few years, they were expected to continue to increase the value of property held in WA.
