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| Carrafiell: Local knowledge is vital to success |
The real estate investment management market has ballooned in recent years. According to figures from real estate services company DTZ, public or listed equity holdings in Europe were €148 billion in 2004 while privately held funds totalled €880 billion, of which €183 billion was held by pension funds. Both private and public equity – especially the latter given the continuing spread of real estate investment trusts (Reits) – are thought to have grown substantially in 2005. Indeed, the majority of respondents in DTZ's 2005 investor survey wished to increase their exposure to real estate but were finding it difficult to reach their purchasing targets owing to scarcity of product. In its overview of market conditions in 2005, DTZ notes that the launch of new indirect investment products such as Reits is crucial to sating this demand and keeping the market growing.
"There is simply a lot of capital looking for a home and it is increasingly coming to real estate," says David Blight, CEO of ING Real Estate Investment Management, which ranked third in Euromoney's survey for the category.