Charter Hall says now is the time to reinvest in property as a real estate recovery is underway

Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC) kicked off its 2010 Investor Forum, ‘Real Estate Recovery in Focus', in Brisbane today telling retail investors that now is the time to reinvest in property.  The Investor Forum, which is also being held in Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Sydney over the next two weeks, is providing the Group's managed fund's 50,000 retail investors with the opportunity to hear about the recovery of the property market directly from senior management. 

Charter Hall's Joint Managing Director, David Southon said: 'Property is cyclical and we believe the Australian property market is now at the bottom of the cycle as we are seeing not only an improvement in economic conditions but also a strengthening of underlying property fundamentals.'  

The Australian economy is showing signs of improvement with a comparatively low unemployment rate of 5.1%, GDP growth of 3.3% per annum and solid consumer confidence. The United States and European markets are also starting to see an overall improvement in economic indicators. 

'These improving economic conditions are key to driving demand across property markets and we are already seeing increased tenant enquiries and subsequent leasing activity across our office, industrial and retail portfolios in all markets in which we invest.  This combined with a limited supply of new buildings, following project delays as a result of the financial crisis, has resulted in a stabilisation of vacancy rates, particularly in Australia,' Mr Southon said.  

Access to equity and increasing superannuation flows are also important fundamentals for the property recovery with banks now more comfortable to lend at the current lower gearing levels.  

Charter Hall's Joint Managing Director, David Harrison, said: 'Looking at superannuation in particular, APRA is forecasting superannuation flows to continue to grow to between $2.5 trillion and  $3 trillion by 2020, and we believe the allocation of these flows to property will also increase as more investors recognise the stable and attractive returns direct and unlisted property funds can deliver.' 

Charter Hall Group, which manages $10.2 billion in funds under management across listed and unlisted equity sources, is well positioned to take advantage of this recovery having implemented a number of strategies across its funds over the past twelve months. 

Charter Hall's managed funds sold over $3 billion of property over the past year, predominately offshore, in order to re-weight its portfolio to Australia; reduced gearing through repaying or refinancing over $3.5 billion of debt; simplified its capital and ownership structures and recycled capital into higher growth investment opportunities. 

'Importantly, we believe that both listed and direct property remains an attractive long term asset class for all investors.  At this point in the cycle, property has a strong value proposition relative to many other asset classes as it provides investors with the opportunity to benefit from both income and capital growth. 

'We will continue to focus on delivering income and capital growth across all of our property funds and we intend to position our funds to capitalise on acquisition opportunities that are being presented in the Australian market,' Mr Harrison said. 

In addition to Mr Harrison and Mr Southon, Mr Adrian Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, Charter Hall Office REIT; Mr Steven Sewell, Chief Executive Officer, Charter Hall Retail REIT; and Richard Stacker, Chief Executive Officer, Charter Hall Direct Property are presenting at the Investor Forum to provide retail investors with an update on the Group's managed funds.  Mr Kevin Stanley, Executive Director of Global Research and Consulting, CB Richard Ellis is also providing an update on the market.