Inaugural IPD US Annual Property Index Reveals Negative Capital Growth

NEW YORK, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- IPD, the global real estate performance
analysis and benchmarking specialist, today published its first-ever annual
commercial real estate index and quarterly indicator for the United States,
backed by 10 years of historical data.

According to the IPD US Annual Property Index, capital growth was -12.2% in
2008. For the 12 months to the end of December 2008, the US all property
income return was 5.4%, contributing to an overall total return of -7.4%.

The Annual Index is born out of IPD's core US Portfolio Analysis Services,
which began operations in Chicago in 2005 and measure the relative performance
of individual funds against peer group benchmarks. The US IPD office has
amassed data on $121 billion worth of US commercial real estate portfolios for
the first Annual Index, data which is expected to expand substantially in
coming years.

The inaugural IPD US Quarterly Indicator, which monitors quarterly movements
in US commercial real estate value trends and returns, revealed that capital
growth was -10.5% for the quarter ending March 31, 2009. Over the same
three-month period, US all property income return was 1.4%, contributing to an
overall total return of -9.2%.

Annual sector and regional returns

For the annual period, the Office sector fared the worst, with capital growth
of -12.8%. For the same one-year period, the Residential sector, Industrial
sector and Retail sector capital growth was -12.2%, -11.7% and -11.4%,
respectively.

At the regional level, Western states posted the largest decline with a
capital growth of -13.0% for the 12 months to the end of December 2008.
Capital growth results were similarly negative for the East, South and
Midwest, at -12.3%, -11.1% and 11.0%, respectively.

Simon Fairchild, Managing Director at IPD US, said: "A clear feature of these
US results is the apparent synchronization in the downside performance.
Whatever manner in which we analyze the data -- either across regions or
sectors -- market values have been written down at broadly the same rate."

Notes to editors:

IPD is a global information business, dedicated to the objective measurement
of commercial real estate performance. As the world's number-one provider of
real estate performance analysis for funds, investors, managers and occupiers,
IPD offers a full range of services, including research, reporting,
benchmarking, conferences and indices. Operating in over 20 countries
including most of Europe, the US, South Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand
and Japan, its indices are the basis for the developing commercial property
derivatives market, and the most authoritative measures of real estate returns
worldwide. For further information, visit http://www.ipd.com.

The IPD US Property Index measures returns to direct investment in US
commercial property. It shows total return on capital employed in market
standing investments (i.e., properties held from one monthly valuation to the
next) but excludes any properties bought, sold, under development, or subject
to major refurbishment in the course of the month.

Contact:

Kim Dobbins - Dobbins Communications
847 332 2626, kdobbins@dobbcomm.com

This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information, visit
http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Investment Property Databank

Kim Dobbins for Investment Property Databank, +1-847-332-2626,
kdobbins@dobbcomm.com