CAPREIT Locks in Long-Term Interest Rate Savings

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - June 20, 2011) - Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust ("CAPREIT") (TSX:CAR.UN) announced today that it had entered into a hedging program to lock in interest rates on approximately $312 million of mortgages maturing between September 2011 and June 2013. The maturing mortgages will be refinanced on ten-year terms and will bear interest rates based on a floor rate of 3.0% with a maximum of 3.6%, before credit spread. This fixed interest rate range is well below the current weighted average interest rate on the maturing mortgages of approximately 5.2%, or 4.4% on an equivalent credit adjusted basis.

"With interest rates at historic lows, we believe this is a good time to lock in long-term interest rates for our mortgages maturing over the next two years," stated Thomas Schwartz, President and Chief Executive Officer. "With this creative hedging program we have fixed a portion of our interest costs at rates well below the maturing rates, ensuring we will benefit from significant savings for a considerable portfolio of our maturing mortgages."

As one of Canada's largest residential landlords, CAPREIT (TSX:CAR.UN) is a growth-oriented investment trust owning interests in 29,557 residential units, comprised of 28,232 apartment and townhome suites located in and near major urban centres from coast to coast and two manufactured home communities comprising 1,325 land lease sites located in Ontario. For more information about CAPREIT, its business and its investment highlights, please refer to our website at www.capreit.net.