After a relatively decent 2014 in which listed property markets were generally bolstered by investor needs of yield and earnings stability, the start of 2015 continued that theme. In January, both global and Asia Pacific real estate stocks posted strong returns of 3.3 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively (based on SNL Financial data, with quoted returns in local currency). As one would expect in this type of yield-oriented environment, REITs (with their “forced” yield due to structural requirements) performed even better, with the Asia Pacific REIT sector returning 3.7 percent. Perhaps a good indication of the support for yield investment, particularly as sovereign bond yields continue to compress, is that the yield for Asia Pacific property companies has compressed in excess of 20 basis points since 2014, with REITs witnessing most of that compression and yielding approximately 100 basis points below at the start of 2014.

The Asia Pacific region may have seen property s