Fewer tenants hit real estate trusts

Asia-Pacific real estate investment trusts, or REITs, will be wrestling with dampening tenant demand due to subdued business and consumer confidence arising from the expected slowdown in the region's economies in the next few months, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said in a report on Thursday.

"We expect the major real estate markets of Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan to generally see economic pressures suppressing rental growth in the short term," Standard & Poor's credit analyst Craig Parker said.

"Nevertheless, we expect rated Asia-Pacific REITs to maintain their credit quality due to the sound foundations they have built over the years. We observe that they have maintained a well-spread leasing maturity profile and diverse tenant base that reduces the impact of cyclical volatility. And their superior quality property portfolios continue to attract tenants compared with the whole market."

Standard & Poor's rates 42 REITs covering the region's major real estate markets. The majority of rated REITs have investment-grade ratings with a stable outlook.

huyuanyuan@chinadaily.com.cn