The purchase, in equal proportions, of South Africa’s landmark V&A Waterfront is now complete and all conditions have been fulfilled

SA listed property had highest total return of four asset classes for April.

It was once an illiquid sector strictly for insiders, but now real estate has become a much more tradable sector and contains top property assets in SA.

Leading JSE listed property company Growthpoint Properties Limited [JSE: GRT] has raised R500 million in the first corporate bond to be issued by a South African listed property company

Cape Town entrepreneurs are set to benefit from a new enterprise development initiative being launched to empower SMMEs (small, medium and micro enterprises) in the mother city by South Africa’s largest listed property company

In addition to being the best performing SA asset class year-to-date with total returns of 27.41%, up 29.90% over the past 12 months, listed property has once again excelled amongst South Africa’s top 100 companies

LEON Allison, research analyst at Macquarie First South Securities, said listed property has achieved an average total return of 20% per year for the past five years.

For many investors, Growthpoint is a good proxy for the property sector. It is in the Alsi 40, with a R26bn market cap. It has a similar split to the overall property market, with 42% in offices, 36% in retail and 22% in industrial property. In the year to June, however, the increase in Growthpoint’s distribution (dividend) was below the listed property sector’s at 5,8%.

Growthpoint Properties Limited has exceeded its distribution forecast for the year ended 30 June 2010 achieving distribution growth of 5.8%

Vukile Property Fund has warned that increases in electricity prices and higher municipal rates would push tenants’ costs higher, which is likely to have a negative effect on rental affordability.