JSE REIT Stor-Age, South Africa’s leading and largest self storage property fund, continued outperforming sector and JSE indices for the year to March 2020, with robust results and a 5% higher dividend of R1.12 per share reflecting the resilience of the self storage product.

Encouraging financial results revealed by 4AX listed company Heartwood Properties Cape Town, 18 June 2020.

“The COVID-19 Crisis has changed the world a lot, perhaps less through introducing new trends and more through speeding up old trends,” said John Loos, FNB Economist at an FNB Commercial Property Finance (CPF) webinar earlier today.

The current state of the economy brought about by many factors including the Covid 19 Pandemic and the recent downgrade to junk status is having an unparalleled effect on the real estate industry in South Africa.

It is fashionable to have an opinion on how the COVID-19 Crisis is “changing the world”.

In a downturn, Property Market Values can deviate dramatically from the market “equilibrium” value, a value which can be far lower than market in recessionary times due to strong resistance by the market to dropping values to make the sales.

Urbanisation has been a major watchword of the 21st century, with 55% of the world’s population already living in urban areas and numbers expected to increase to almost 70% by 2050, however, the course of urbanisation is likely to be significantly altered by several forcible disrupters.

A slowing capital growth trend, into negative territory by 2019, has been in play in recent years. The Corona Crisis is likely to add momentum to this correcting trend in 2020.

Marc Wainer, founder, former Chairman and CEO of Redefine Properties, who started his career working in his parents' grocery and fish shop in Yeoville and went on to build one of the country’s largest and diversified Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) listed on the JSE passed away earlier today at the age of 71.

Peter Gent, ex-RMB Chief Operating Officer, has been appointed as an independent, non-executive director to the board of directors of commercial property development company, Heartwood Properties, who are listed on the 4AX (4 Africa Exchange).