Why listed property is riding high

Listed real estate is often regarded as a ‘hybrid’ equity sector sitting between financials and physical real estate. So far this year real estate has been amongst the top performing equity sectors in the UK, continental Europe and the US while at the other end of the spectrum banks have seen significant underperformance. The fortunes of these two capital-intensive sectors have been intertwined since the Lehman collapse; the positive correlation collapsed in November 2010 and is now firmly negative. Interestingly, the listed property sector has outperformed in both a rising and fal...