Assoimmobiliare, which represents operators and investors in the real estate industry, together with Nomisma, an independent company that carries out research and economic consultancy activities, present the first performance indicator of the Italian corporate real estate market. It is a tool aimed at measuring the profitability of the corporate real estate segment which was created to guide investment decisions, evaluate the performance of managers, increase the transparency and attractiveness of the sector towards both Italian and international investors.
The data collection concerned real estate assets with a value of over 37 billion euros held by Italian asset management companies and SIIQs which financed the project and whose results are made available to the sector (Amundi, Bnp, Cdp, Coima, Dea Capital, Fabrica, Generali, Igd Siiq, Investire, Morgan Stanley, Polis, Prelios, Sator, Most Serene, Source). In particular, a global index was defined (considering all properties, regardless of type and location), a core index (including only properties not subject to real estate development and transformation operations), as well as three sector indices (management, commercial and industrial), both nationally and in the main urban realities of the country (primarily Rome and Milan).
Analyzing corporate investments in Italy, which represent the reference market, it emerges how the volume of transactions in 2018 was 8,6 billion euros (compared to the 11 billion generated in 2017), mainly represented by management and commercial assets. With regard to the origin of the investor, in 2018 it was 64% foreign (5 points less than the previous year). With reference to the real estate stock being analysed, the predominant component is, also in this case, represented by management assets (27,6%) followed by commercial assets (18,3%). In terms of market value determined by independent experts (AUM), the incidence of the two main segments grows further, with the directional component standing at 18.039 million, equal to 47,9% of the total, and the commercial component reaching 5.365 million, equal to 14,2%.
This is followed by residential properties, with a value of 3.577 million (9,5% of the total) and industrial properties, whose value is equal to 2.571 million euros (6,8% of the total). An interesting future sector such as hospitality currently "weighs" for 2,3%, with an AUM of 848 million. In terms of performance, from the analysis good profitability emerges for all categories: considering the Global index of the Italian corporate market, profitability in the first half of 2018 was 2,11% (1,93% net of taxes and expenses charged to the property). Although slowing down compared to 2017, when on an annual basis it stood at 5,60% (5,19% net of taxes), the result remains satisfactory. Moving on to the Core index (relating only to leased properties), profitability in the first half of 2018 is equal to 2,60% (2,30% net of expenses and taxes), while in 2017 it stood at 5,36% ( 4,72% in net terms).
Considering the main markets of Milan and Rome, there is a better performance of the Lombard capital in the executive segment, while in the commercial sector the differences are far less marked. Although financial tensions have grown considerably in the last year and the reference macroeconomic context has become progressively less favourable, the analysis confirms the ability of the Italian corporate real estate market to guarantee satisfactory profitability even when the contribution of the revaluation is modest, or even slightly negative. The performance indicator of the Italian corporate real estate market will be produced on a six-monthly basis and will constitute an important tool for monitoring the trend of the sector, at the service of future investments.
“We are extremely satisfied to have launched this important new initiative with the involvement of a scientific partner of excellence such as Nomisma. The definition of an indicator capable of measuring the performance of the corporate real estate segment in Italy confirms the will of our Association to make a concrete contribution to increasing the transparency of the real estate industry. Thanks to the extraordinary participation of the Associates, it was also possible to collect data relating to reserved real estate funds, thus allowing the creation of a reference benchmark for the market", he underlined Silvia Rovere, President of Assoimmobiliare.
“We are particularly proud that Assoimmobiliare has identified Nomisma as the partner for such an important project for the Italian real estate market. It is in fact from transparency and the identification of a reliable metric for measuring performance that the possibilities of expanding investments in a sector pass which, despite the good results of recent years, remains small in relation to the size of our economy. This is an important step that companies have decided to take to equip themselves with a reference benchmark in terms of profitability, thus increasing the attractiveness of the sector to foreign investors.", he declared Luca Dondi, Chief Executive Officer of Nomisma.
