Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) listed on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) are gaining traction, with Eagle REIT delivering a year-to-date return of 44,18% as investors warm to the emerging asset class.
Data from VFEX showed Eagle REIT’s market capitalisation rose by 44,18% from the end of last year to April 10, reaching nearly US$60 million before easing to about US$52 million by Monday, reflecting a period of price stabilisation.
Investor appetite has also extended to Pfuma Fund REIT, the bourse’s second listed property trust. Since listing on February 6, its market capitalisation has grown by 2,5% to US$67,63 million as of Monday.
The gains are considered real returns, as the VFEX trades exclusively in United States dollars, shielding investors from exchange rate distortions.
Pfuma Fund REIT, launched by Arctic Blue Asset Management (Private) Limited, debuted with an estimated total asset value of US$23,74 million, with its net asset value projected to rise to US$46,73 million. Eagle REIT, listed in May 2025, began with a net asset value of US$20,03 million as a mixed-use development.
IH Securities said the local REIT market has steadily gained prominence over the past five years, tracking growth in the broader property sector.
“The Zimbabwean REIT market has been garnering attention in the last five years as the real estate market has expanded,” the firm said.
“About 11 REITs have been registered since 2021, indicating an interest in the asset class. Tigere REIT was the first to be listed in 2023, followed by Revitus in 2024 and Eagle REIT in 2025.”
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Two of the four listed REITs — Tigere and Revitus — are on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE), while Eagle and Pfuma trade on the VFEX, whose stronger performance has helped attract new listings to the US dollar-denominated platform.
“In terms of capital raising, Eagle REIT managed to secure about US$24,5 million via private placement in 2025 against a target of US$62 million prior to its IPO (initial public offering) while Revitus raised between US$5 million and US$8 million during its IPO in 2023,” IH Securities said.
“Tigere raised between US$8 million (and) US$10 million at IPO in 2022 and now breached the US$100 million capitalisation mark. Eagle's higher pre-IPO capital raise shows growing confidence in the asset class.”
In Zimbabwe, REITs are regulated as collective investment schemes, positioning them as capital market instruments that pool investor funds for property exposure under frameworks designed to enhance governance, transparency and investor protection.
Institutional investors — particularly pension funds and asset managers — remain the primary source of long-term demand, although their participation is selective.
“Institutional investors, primarily pension funds and asset managers, constitute the most stable source of long-term demand but are highly selective in deployment. Their interests are concentrated in income-producing commercial assets, including offices, retail centres, and mixed-use developments with defensible cash flows,” IH Securities said.
“While pension funds and insurers are structurally incentivised to allocate to property as a long-duration and inflation-hedging asset, effective demand is constrained by liquidity considerations, regulatory allocation limits, with pensions and insurers being mandated to seek assets with prescribed asset status and currency risk.”
As a result, institutions favour US dollar-generating assets with predictable income streams, with property already accounting for 46,33% of pension allocations in Zimbabwe, compared to 4% in the United States and a global average of 10%.
“REITs have emerged as a key aggregation vehicle, enabling institutions to access property exposure with enhanced governance, transparency and tradability relative to direct ownership,” IH Securities said.
“Institutional participation is therefore often indirect, via listed REIT units, rather than through asset acquisition.”
The VFEX, in particular, is positioning itself as a preferred platform for REITs backed by US dollar income streams, improving investor confidence and broadening access to property-backed securities.
Regionally, the REITs sector is also gaining momentum, particularly in South Africa, which hosts one of Africa’s most developed listed property markets. Large, diversified REITs there continue to attract both domestic and international capital, supported by deeper liquidity, strong governance frameworks and access to offshore earnings.
Across the region, property funds are increasingly shifting towards logistics, retail convenience centres and mixed-use developments, mirroring global trends driven by e-commerce growth and urbanisation.
However, rising interest rates and pressure on consumer spending have weighed on valuations in some markets, prompting a strategic pivot towards high-quality, income-generating assets with resilient cash flows. For Zimbabwe, analysts say the regional trajectory reinforces the case for strengthening market depth, improving liquidity and maintaining hard-currency investment platforms.
