Delving into Real Estate's Performance

Fritz Louw and Niel Harmse

May 05, 2021

From Jan. 30, 2020, when the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak to be a global health emergency, to April 26, 2021, office-focused listed real estate companies were the worst-performing property type in the MSCI World Core IMI Real Estate Index, on a cumulative basis. During this time, the segment’s returns fell by 13.0% — lower than both retail (-11.2%) and hotels and resorts (-5.9%). Through most of 2020, listed companies with a focus on the office sector had trended above these segments — a trend mirrored in private-asset data. In November 2020, however, a shift took place in listed markets, where news of potential COVID vaccines coincided with a strong rebound in listed real estate. While retail- and hotel-focused companies bounced back and have since grown more strongly, office companies lagged.

How to interact with this plot: Select one of the MSCI IMI Core Real Estate Indexes from the bottom grid. A brush selection in the bottom left chart dynamically adjusts the other two charts. The shaded area indicates the selected analysis period, which can be dragged along the x-axis and its range adjusted by scrolling.