Dominique Moerenhout, CEO of EPRA, participated in a video interview in conjunction with Nareit’s REITweek: 2022 Investor Conference in New York on June 7-9.
Moerenhout commented on the performance of European listed real estate during the pandemic, noting that the sector has been “very resilient.” In fact, the recovery has been five times greater than following the global financial crisis, and the sector was already back to its pre-pandemic level by August 2021, he added.
As in other markets, self-storage, residential, and industrial have been among the best performing sectors in Europe, Moerenhout said.
Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine continues to create uncertainty in the European market, Moerenhout said. “In my view, we moved from pandemic chaos to geopolitical chaos,” with rising construction costs one of the many impacts of the conflict.
As a result of the current upheaval, Moerenhout said investors in European listed real estate are taking a cautious approach. He also stressed that European listed real estate is well-positioned to deal with rising interest rates and an inflationary environment.