Presented on the 31st of March, these results compare with the negative return of -0.3% observed in 2020, in a recovery strongly driven by the contribution of the rents return component (4.1%). When it comes to comparing the performance of the real estate sector with other investment asset classes, «while equities performed the best last year, when looking at annualized returns over five, ten and twenty years, there is no doubt that the real estate continues to be a star, delivering the best returns to investors», commented Luís Francisco, Client Consultant Real Estate EMEA at MSCI.`
As observed in most markets monitored by the MSCI Real Estate Index, the Industrial and Logistics segment stood out the most in the Portuguese panorama in 2021, returning the highest return to investors: 7.7%, an increase of two percentage points compared to the previous year. 5.7% registered a year earlier. In a surprising second place comes retail which, after an abrupt drop in 2020 – when its total return dropped into negative territory, at -3.5% - recovered consistently over the last year, ending 2021 with a total return of 7.3%. %. Evidencing an improvement compared to the 6.0% returned a year earlier, the offices completed the podium, with a return of 6.9% - a result that, explained Luís Francisco, was mainly supported by a rise in rents, with this component set at 6.4%.
This barometer also analyzed the return of so-called alternative assets, which last year returned an average of 4.4% to investors, compared to the 2.8% observed in 2020. Investment in hotels also followed a recovery path, guaranteeing a total return of 4.0 %, regaining ground against the -4.7% registered a year earlier.
«Retail and offices, which were the sectors most penalized by Covid-19, were also those that recorded the greatest growth in terms of net operating results», Luís Francisco also underlined. Meanwhile, “in offices, rising rents were the main driver for the growth in capital appreciation,” he added.