The property sector faces a Return Conundrum. Total returns have achieved near-term historical highs driven mainly by capital growth. Continued growth is expected with some cap rate compression still left and office sector incentives reducing. How long is this trend sustainable? And what happens then? Has the sector peaked, with interest rates set to increase soon? Will the sector continue progressing with many of the opinion that relatively low interest rates will remain for some time? Or are we facing a major paradigm shift which will fundamentally affect key aspects of the sector: how buildings are used, driven by changes in consumer retailing and office space dynamics; what cities will even look like; and how we fund investments? Could this shift see property values plummeting? To ask the hard questions and examine the issues we will be joined by leading thinkers both inside and external to the property industry as we grapple with the future of the sector.
