The listed real estate sector has managed the crisis well and is in optimal conditions to face the coming years, according to the dominant opinion among the 300 experts gathered at the V Iberian Reit & Listed Conference held in Madrid.
Dominique Moerenhout, CEO of EPRA – the umbrella organisation for listed real estate companies in Europe – said that, in such challenging times as the present, “in the coming years we can be cautiously optimistic”. “The sector has handled the latest crisis well and is reasonably well positioned to face the future,” he added.
Ismael Clemente, CEO of Merlin, said that “the outlook is good for listed real estate companies; our shopping centres are already outperforming pre-pandemic figures, curiously in the midst of a negative trend”.
For his part, Miguel Pereda, vice-chairman of Grupo Lar, said that “although we have exceeded 2019 figures in terms of occupancy and sales, in 2023 we will maintain a cautious approach”.
Pere Viñolas, CEO of Colonial, also highlighted that “operations are going well, despite the interest rate hikes; we are going through a good operational phase”.
In the opinion of David Martínez, CEO of Aedas, “we have had an excellent 2022 and the outlook is very good in the sector”. In Spain, the mentality is changing,” he added, “from ownership to pay-per-use.
