At the annual conference of EPRA, the European Public Real Estate Association, held in Berlin on 9 September, Tim Leckie, real estate analyst at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co, told delegates that investors in European listed property companies will benefit from around two years of low interest rates, broadening rental growth and rising asset values.

“Rental growth is spreading to Germany, Spain and Ireland after appearing first in the United Kingdom,” Leckie said, “and this is very positive for the NAVs of listed property companies. The summer’s turmoil in financial markets has probably pushed back the lift-off point for interest rates or flattened the speed at which they will rise. This means that for the next 24 months or so we will have a continuation of the positive environment for the property industry: broadening rental growth and rising property values against a backdrop of historically low interest rates.”

Research carried out by Leckie and fellow J.P. M