05 October 2005

The Association of Foreign Real Estate Investors (AFIRE) announced the appointment of Mark W. Baillie as Chairman at the 2005 AFIRE 17th Annual Membership Meeting in Washington, DC on Tuesday, 27 September 2005.

Mr Baillie is the first Australian to occupy the role and his appointment comes as Australia assumes the lead as the No. 1 foreign investor in US real estate over the past 12 months.

Mr Baillie is based in Chicago as Macquarie's Head of Real Estate - North America and Europe.

"AFIRE is a great organization for all foreign real estate players in the US and especially for new entrants into the market," commented Mr Baillie. "I am extremely honored by the appointment."

Mr Baillie said "Despite a reduction of yields, the US real estate market continues to dominate inbound real estate investment globally and provides attractive risk adjusted returns."

As the official voice of the foreign real estate industry in the United States, AFIRE provides an exclusive environment where principals and senior executives can meet and exchange information through regularly scheduled meetings in the US, Europe and key cities around the world. It also provides exposure to influential US policy makers and opinion leaders, updates on important legislation and tax regulations, and informative publications dedicated to ensuring that the foreign investor is as informed as the domestic investor.

AFIRE is a not-for-profit association of international real estate investors with headquarters in Washington, DC. The association was founded in 1988 with strong initial support from Dutch pension funds and now counts German investors as the largest single nationality among its nearly 177 corporate members. Though largely European in membership, the organization has a diverse membership of investors from 17 different countries. The association includes a very limited number of qualified US advisors who must be sponsored and show a history of international advisory business. AFIRE is governed by the foreign institutional investors through their majority on the Board and by an active Executive Committee. Membership is on a corporate basis and by invitation and approval. For more information, go to www.afire.org.

For further information, please contact:

James Fetgatter
Chief Executive
AFIRE
Tel: (+1 202) 312 1400

Mark Baillie
Chairman
AFIRE
Tel: (+1 312) 342 0372