Following a challenging decade that began in 2017/2018, marked by structural economic challenges and earnings headwinds exacerbated by the COVID-19 rebase, the REIT market spent three to four years trading sideways as it inwardly focused on self-help and stabilisation.
While geopolitical volatility continues to create near-term uncertainty, it has done little to undermine the structural progress achieved in the local Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) market.
The South African listed real estate sector entered 2026 with strong momentum, underpinned by improving fundamentals, renewed access to capital markets and disciplined, strategic capital allocation off a clean base.
This was evidenced by a tangible increase in direct real estate transactional activity, says Kyle Rollinson and Karl Priessnitz from Investec Corporate and Investment Banking, Real Estate.
They say the structural reset of the sector now provides a clear platform for the next growth phase: a reinvigoration of listings, transactional activity and capital deployment into new sectors.
