Australia’s listed property companies face a fresh challenge to earnings from the rising cost of debt – an increase in the official rate could come as early as Tuesday – after their stocks suffered a $10 billion slump in market value as bond yields climbed during the first four months of this year.

The cost of credit has become a particularly hot topic for the $140 billion real estate investment trust sector. REITs are an asset class that, more than any other, run almost on leverage.