Drapac launches US property funds
Melbourne-based property investment firm Drapac has launched a new product aimed at giving Australian investors access to what it says is the still undervalued US real estate market.
The company announced this week it was launching two investment funds — Drapac Stars & Strips 1 and Drapac Stars & Stripes II — which would be on offer to wholesale investors until 16 August.
Commenting on the product launch, Drapac chief executive and founder Michael Drapac said the funds were unlike anything else in the Australian market at the current time.
The company said Drapac Stars and Stripes I and II would aim to acquire portfolios of US real estate in carefully selected target markets across the US — Chicago, Atlanta, Phoenix, Charlotte, Orlando and Los Angeles.
It said these target markets had been chosen as a result of extensive on-the-ground quantitative and qualitative market research.
"These were cities that were severely affected by the Global Financial Crisis, but which possess highly favourable demographic profiles and significant pent-up demand; cities that Drapac expects will outperform the broader market recovery," the company's analysis said.
It said the allocation of property assets between the two investment funds would depend on a number of factors, with the main points of differentiation being asset class, geographic location, and whether the asset was income-producing or non-income producing.
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