SNL Financial Expects 2008 Growth in Publicly Traded Real Estate Companies Outside the U.S.

U.S. companies now comprise less than 40% of the global market

Charlottesville, Va. (Jan. 31, 2008) — As the global real estate market expands, SNL Financial is adding research and data on new companies and countries to its real estate coverage. Asia will receive special focus as it's the largest growth area for global real estate, and many of the big Chinese property companies trade on the Hong Kong or Singapore exchanges. As a result, SNL now covers every public real estate investment trust in Singapore.

Recently, SNL Real Estate complemented its coverage of more than 200 companies in more than 20 countries in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region by adding the following firms to its database: Ascott Residence Trust, Cambridge Industrial Trust, CapitaRetail China Trust, CDL Hospitality Trusts, Eurocastle Investment Limited, First Real Estate Investment Trust, Frasers Centrepoint Trust, K-REIT Asia, MacarthurCook Industrial REIT, Macquarie MEAG Prime REIT, Pirelli & C. Real Estate SpA and Spazio Investment NV.

The U.S. REIT model continues to spread around the globe. New legislation in 2007 enabled the development of REITs in the United Kingdom and Germany, and SNL anticipates several new German-based REITs this year. Although the majority of property companies outside the U.S. do not enjoy REIT-like status, further legislation to enable REIT development is expected this year in countries as diverse as India and Italy.

"New capital is being invested in global real estate securities, and it's spread out into Italy, Spain, and a number of different countries," said Keven Lindemann, Director of SNL Real Estate. "What we are hearing from the buy side is that capital is being allocated more on a global real estate basis versus a U.S.-focused basis. Investors are interested in a very large universe of companies, and in particular, some of the emerging market countries. SNL is going to meet their need for a single source of standardized financial data."

Lindemann adds, "There is no single Securities Exchange Commission equivalent that governs the world outside of the U.S., so SNL goes to specific countries and exchanges to provide information ranging from corporate-level financials down to property level data and industry news."

For more information about SNL Real Estate news, data and analytics for the global market, visit http://www.snl.com/real_estate_ea/.

About SNL Financial

SNL collects, standardizes and disseminates all relevant corporate, financial, market and M&A data – plus news and analysis – for the Energy, Banking, Specialized Financial Services, Insurance, Real Estate and Media & Communications industries. For more information, visit www.SNL.com.