INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' CONSENT


The Board of Directors
EastGroup Properties, Inc.

We consent to  incorporation  by reference in the  registration  statement  (No.
333-29193) on Form S-3 and the registration statement (No. 33-60909) on Form S-8
of EastGroup  Properties,  Inc. of our reports dated March 6, 2000,  relating to
the consolidated balance sheets of EastGroup  Properties,  Inc. and subsidiaries
as of December 31, 1999 and 1998,  and the related  consolidated  statements  of
income,  changes in stockholders' equity and cash flows for each of the years in
the three-year period ended December 31, 1999, and all related schedules,  which
reports  appear in the December 31, 1999 Annual Report on Form 10-K of EastGroup
Properties, Inc.



Jackson, Mississippi                                          KPMG LLP
March 16, 2000