Office tower funds have had their first positive quarterly returns in over two years, following a pandemic-era increase in hybrid working.
According to the MSCI/Mercer Australia Core Wholesale Monthly Property Fund Index, office funds holding more than $34 billion in assets saw a total return of 1.1 per cent total return for the first quarter of 2025.
This is the first time since 2022 that those funds have had a positive return, following a lengthy stretch of struggling office tower values, some of which fell by as much as 30 per cent.
Some of Australia's biggest property fund managers, such as Charter Hall, Dexus, GPT, super fund manager ISPT and Investa, hold CBD office towers in unlisted vehicles.
The MSCI/Mercer index tracks 15 funds with more than A$95 billion of commercial real estate combined, recording positive capital growth of 0.1%, marking the first increase since Q3 2022.
"The rebound is here,” MSCI’s Benjamin Martin-Henry said.
“But everything is liable to change quickly given the current geopolitical circumstances we find ourselves in. But it certainly does appear to be very positive news for the office sector, which obviously hasn’t happened for quite some time.”
