From niches come riches as investors turn to new property types

The short story for institutional investors is that the traditional core sectors — industrial, office, residential and retail — can be overbought and yet are not shock-proof. There is plenty, perhaps even too much, institutional capital and research chasing properties in the traditional core sectors, meaning that finding a relative bargain is unlikely, but paying top dollar is common.

Facing sometimes daunting hurdles in the core sectors, more institutional property investors are actively developing strategies and allocating portfolios to the niche markets, which might offer higher returns, and if not that, then at least some ballast to the undulations of the core sectors.

There may not be an industry consensus on what a niche property is, except that they are not the pure core industrial, office, residential or retail sector, except when they are, sort of.

Read the full story, “Getting down into the niches” by Benjamin Cole in the Octob