This is the sort of property analyst’s message that the industry has become used to in the 1990s. But the same message was being heard 50 years ago when Warburg (then known as Hurst-Brown, Buckmaster and Peter Hicks) began property research.
Warburg’s first note, which came out in January 1949, was re-published this week to celebrate the broker’s 50 years of research and the retirement of head analyst Roger Moore after 25 years.
Moore was arguably the doyen of property analysts and, until recently, was voted the best in the sector every year.
Fifty years ago, there were 132 quoted property companies – roughly the same number as today.
‘Very little changes over the cycles other than the names of companies and personalities,’ concludes Moore.
‘Property will always be a sector prone to feast or famine and one in which fortunes can be made with little equity capital outlay won or lost. History shows that the shrewd investor cystallises or consolidates gains but those who become so intoxicated by their success that they begin to think they are infallible often lose their fortunes in cataclysmic fashion.’
