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Brad Case, senior vice president, research & industry information at Nareit, traveled through the South earlier this month, discussing REIT investing with the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) societies in five cities.

Bill Hankowsky, chairman, president, and CEO of Liberty Property Trust (NYSE: LPT), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITweek: 2018 Investor Conference in New York.

Justin Knight, president and CEO of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE: APLE), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITweek: 2018 Investor Conference in New York.

Knight observed that leading into 2018, leisure traveler demand had significantly outpaced business traveler demand. As 2018 began, leisure continued to be reasonably strong, but business transient demand began to pick up, he noted.

Dominique Moerenhout, CEO of the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITweek: 2018 Investor Conference in New York.

Moerenhout described the European listed real estate sector as “very healthy,” offering a strong and stable dividend yield and long-term performance that have been supported by a recovering European Union (EU) economy.

Following 21 initial public offerings (IPOs) in Europe in 2017, Moerenhout said he expects the trend to continue: “We see a lot of potential IPOs in 2018 in different sectors.”

Mark Decker Jr., president and CEO of IRET (NYSE: IRET), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITweek: 2018 Investor Conference in New York.

Decker explained that IRET’s focus last year was on reformatting the portfolio into apartment assets. This year, the company has three main priorities: demonstrating it can operate well, “which will be key for us,” Decker said; focusing on employees; and developing better analytics around the business.

REIT mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity is likely to reach a record level in 2018 if it continues at the same pace seen in the first half of the year, according to panelists on a Bloomberg Intelligence webinar, The Rising Tide of REIT M&A: What’s Behind the Wave?

Calvin Schnure, Nareit senior vice president for research & economic analysis, said the pace of activity underscores the health of REIT operating fundamentals overall. With no sign of a cyclical downturn in sight, companies have a “green light” for continuing their business plans, he said.

Joe Coradino, chairman and CEO of PREIT (NYSE: PEI), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITweek: 2018 Investor Conference in New York.

Coradino said the company is beginning to see “positive results” as investors come to view PREIT as a high-quality mall owner. He highlighted that PREIT’s metrics, including sales per square foot, demographics, and occupancy levels, are all consistent with higher-quality mall companies.