Australia unlisted property funds turn positive in Q4

SYDNEY, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Australia's unlisted property funds posted positive returns in the fourth quarter - their first since August 2008 - on fewer property valuation write-downs, property research firm IPD said on Tuesday.

Unlisted property funds delivered a total return of 0.1 percent in the three months ending in December but annualised returns were a negative 9.0 percent, according to the Mercer/IPD Pooled Property Fund Index, which tracks 14 unlisted funds managing around A$20 billion ($18.52 billion).

'Capital returns are still negative but improving,' said Anthony De Francesco, IPD's Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand. 'The unlisted property sector appears to be moving beyond the trough of the property investment cycle.'

Australia's unlisted property funds struggled to raise fresh capital last year as returns turned negative and have been forced to reduce or suspend dividend payments to cut debt.

Meanwhile, listed property firms managed to raise nearly A$12 billion of fresh equity.

Annualised returns for unlisted property funds bottomed out at a negative 13 percent in mid-2009 but it may take another year for annualised returns to turn positive, Francesco said. (Reporting by Eriko Amaha, editing by Balazs Koranyi) (See www.reutersrealestate.com for the global service for real estate professional from Reuters) ($1=1.080 Australian Dollar) Keywords: AUSTRALIA PROPERTY/ ([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.