Nareit's REIT Report Podcast

Fourth quarter GDP data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis underscores the continued pressure facing the services sector, although a surge in spending is likely once vaccines bring the pandemic under control, Nareit Senior Economist Calvin Schnure says. Speaking on the REIT Report, Schnure noted that GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2020 slowed to a 4.0% annual rate after a record 33%...

While an economic recovery is expected to take hold, benefitting commercial real estate in its wake, any significant improvement is likely to occur starting in the second half of 2021, according to Nareit Senior Economist Calvin Schnure. Speaking on the REIT report, Schnure highlighted some of the key themes of Nareit’s 2021 Outlook for REITs and Commercial Real Estate. Schnure noted that “we’re g...

INDUS Realty Trust, Inc. (Nasdaq: INDT) President and CEO Michael Gamzon says the REIT’s focus on logistics real estate in high growth, supply-constrained markets with multiple drivers of demand positions the company well to respond to changes in supply chain strategies. INDUS recently elected REIT status and changed its name from Griffin Industrial Realty. Speaking on the REIT Report, Gamzon said...

Nareit’s 2020 Leader in the Light Awards highlighted a strong field of companies that have worked hard during the pandemic to put their tenants’ needs first, while also reducing their energy, water, and waste output, according to Cliff Majersik, senior advisor for policy and programs at the Institute for Market Transformation. Majersik served as a judge for the 2020 Leader in the Light Awards. He...

The increased adoption of automation technology within logistics real estate will help ease the shift toward more resilient, just-in-case supply chains, according to Melinda McLaughlin, vice president and global head of research at Prologis, Inc. (NYSE: PLD). Speaking on the REIT Report, McLaughlin said the shift in supply chain format will put an intense strain on the amount of available supply o...

David O’Reilly, CEO of The Howard Hughes Corporation (NYSE: HHC), said the REIT has an “unparalleled opportunity” to continue to drive net asset value (NAV) growth over the next several years and decades. O’Reilly was named CEO at the start of December, after serving in that position on an interim basis since September. Speaking on the REIT Report, O’Reilly attributed the growth potential to incre...

Recent news on commercial real estate valuations reflect growing confidence that the sector will start to recover in 2021, said Nareit Senior Economist Calvin Schnure. Speaking Dec. 7 on the REIT Report, Schnure noted that valuations appear to be more stable than they appeared a few months ago, when the sales prices of properties that were being sold showed a big discount. Volumes at that time wer...

David Veal, chief investment officer for the City of Austin Employee’s Retirement System (COAERS), joined guest host Meredith Despins, Nareit senior vice president, investment affairs, for a special edition of the REIT Report to discuss how investing in a completion portfolio using REITs is delivering value to the pension system’s real estate investment portfolio. Pension funds have long recognize...

STORE Capital Corp. (NYSE: STOR) President and COO Mary Fedewa says that after six years as a public company, the net lease REIT has “barely scratched the surface” in terms of tapping potential opportunities for growth. Speaking on the REIT Report, Fedewa said STORE continues to see trends “driving more net lease activity, as companies recognize the benefit of using their own capital to grow their...

REIT share prices, buoyed by positive developments with regard to progress on a COVID-19 vaccine, ended last week at their highest levels since the start of the pandemic, according to Nareit Senior Economist Calvin Schnure. Speaking Nov. 16 on the REIT Report, Schnure noted that news that Pfizer trials showed a success rate of 90% sent REITs sharply higher, especially for those sectors most impact...

The DLA Piper annual survey of real estate executives cites the availability of capital looking to invest in commercial real estate as a reason for optimism in the current environment. Speaking on the REIT Report, John Sullivan, U.S. chair and global co-chair of DLA Piper’s real estate practice, said “the fact that there are folks out there with money to invest—and actually we’re seeing some incre...

Gaming REITs whose tenants are investing in online gaming (iGaming) platforms are expected to benefit from increased downside protection, according to Spenser Allaway, an analyst on Green Street’s research team and sector head of net lease, gaming, and self-storage. Speaking on the REIT Report, Allaway said downside protection for the gaming REITs will be in the form of improved underlying tenant...

Third-quarter GDP posted the biggest increase in history as it rebounded from a record decline in the Spring, yet it still remains below levels seen a year earlier, indicating that further improvement is needed, said Nareit Senior Economist Calvin Schnure. Speaking on the REIT Report, Schnure noted that even after the 33% increase, third quarter GDP is “still down by as much as you might see in a...

Retail sales figures for September came in stronger than expected, laying the groundwork for a potentially robust holiday sales season this year, according to Nareit Senior Economist Calvin Schnure. September retail sales jumped nearly 2%, which was stronger than expected. “The economy’s not as weak as some people may have feared a month or two ago,” Schnure said. Nearly all categories of spending...

Current volatility within the REIT market is creating the potential for opportunistic investment, particularly among well-capitalized companies with seasoned management teams, said Jay Olander, managing partner of Cornerstone Realty Advisors. Olander has served in senior REIT management positions for over 25 years. Most recently, he oversaw the $1.9 billion sale in 2016 of Landmark Apartment Trust...

A slowing of payroll employment in September raises concerns over the pace of the economic recovery in the months ahead, Nareit Senior Economist Calvin Schnure said. Speaking Oct. 5 on the REIT Report, Schnure noted that despite the 661,000 rise in payroll employment in September, “the report had more warning signs than good news.” The increase came in below market expectations, and while the unem...

The biggest story to emerge from the past six months has been the bounce-back in certain retail sectors. Funari noted that rent collection for free standing retail started out at 73% and by September was almost at 95% of typical rent collected. Shopping centers started the pandemic at slightly over 50% and were at 82% of typical rent collection by September, she noted. Nareit decided to end its re...

The commercial real estate industry should use the current environment as a catalyst to future-proof assets for the changing ways in which they will be used over the coming decade, according to Nikki Greenberg, founder and CEO of Real Estate of the Future. Speaking on the REIT Report, Greenberg noted that while the ways we live and work have rapidly changed, the spaces we occupy have not. “We real...

Most of the current economic news is pointing to an ongoing recovery, including for commercial real estate fundamentals, according to Nareit Senior Economist Calvin Schnure. Speaking Sept. 14th on the Nareit REIT Report, Schnure noted that August retail sales data, to be reported on Wednesday, are expected to show a 1% increase. “Most aspects of retail sales actually are above pre-pandemic levels,...

Against a backdrop of overall positive economic momentum, the performance gap between property sectors is likely to expand during the second half of the year, according to Carly Tripp, chief investment officer for the Americas at Nuveen Real Estate. Speaking on the REIT Report, Tripp also discussed how to ideally go about positioning a portfolio amidst the current level of uncertainty. “It’s reall...

August employment data released last week shows that the economic recovery remains on track, despite worries about a potential rebound in the coronavirus, according to Nareit Senior Economist Calvin Schnure. Employers hired back more than a million workers last month, with total payroll employment rising by 1.4 million. This number did include temporary workers hired for the Census, Schnure pointe...

The appeal of attractive urban gathering places has remained intact throughout the coronavirus crisis, despite reports of preferences shifting toward less dense, suburban locations, says Robin Zeigler, EVP and COO at Cedar Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: CDR). “One of the things we’ve seen during this period is that people do still have a desire to gather and to be in certain types of environments. The...

Continued signs of resilience in the economy, even as the coronavirus remains active, point to a positive environment for commercial real estate going forward, according to Nareit Senior Economist Calvin Schnure. Speaking Aug. 31 on the REIT Report, Schnure noted that new home sales in July rose to their highest level since 2006. Durable goods orders rose more than expected, and industrial product...

While COVID-19 has created short-term disruption and altered business and leisure routines, trends prevalent today may not necessarily remain in place for the longer term, according to Bernhard Krieg, managing director and portfolio manager on the real estate equities team for Brookfield’s Public Securities Group. Krieg noted that a valuation shift between growth and value-oriented stocks was alre...

The economy continues to experience a high degree of uncertainty, but operating performance across the REIT industry indicates that there could be some upside potential in the year ahead, said Nareit Senior Economist Calvin Schnure. On the economic front, positive figures for housing starts, existing home sales, and the homebuilders’ survey have been tempered by high jobless claims, soaring mortga...