Commercial Real Estate Price Pressure Beginning to Emerge in Some Sectors, Report Finds

Increased demand for commercial real estate is causing the price of assets to overtake their value in certain property sectors, according to the latest Real Estate Research Corporation’s (RERC) quarterly Real Estate Report.

“The relationship between the value versus the price of commercial real estate is precariously balanced,” according to Ken Riggs, president and CEO of RERC, a national evaluation and research organization.

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REIT Bondholders Benefitting from Strong Corporate Governance, Fitch Ratings Finds

Most U.S. Equity REITs have strong corporate governance attributes that benefit bondholders, and they should ease their concerns about the impact of investor activism, according to a report from ratings agency Fitch Ratings, Inc.

Based on its review of 64 U.S. Equity REITs, Fitch concluded that “corporate governance is pretty strong for bondholders in the REIT space,” said Sean Pattap, a senior director at Fitch. “The positives outweigh the negatives,” he added.

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NorthStar Realty Finance Plans to Acquire Griffin-American Healthcare REIT for $4 Billion

Diversified commercial real estate investment company NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. (NYSE: NRF) said Aug. 5 that it plans to acquire Griffin-American Healthcare REIT II, Inc., a public, non-listed REIT (PNLR),  in a stock and cash transaction totaling $ 4 billion.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Under the terms of the deal, Griffin-American stockholders will receive $ 7.75 per share in cash and $ 3.75 per share in NorthStar Realty common stock. As part of the deal, NorthStar would assume $ 600 million in debt from Griffin-American.

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Quick Study: Broad Economy Dominates REIT Market Sentiment

In the latest edition of Quick Study, Brad Case, NAREIT’s senior vice president for research and industry information, offered an analysis of how the REIT market performed in July after a strong showing in the first half.

The total return on the FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index dipped 0.2 percent in July, although the decline was smaller than the 1.4 percent fall in the S&P 500 Index. For the year through July 31, the FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index had a total return of 15.9 percent, compared with a 5.7 percent gain by the S&P 500.

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REITs Retreat Modestly in July, But Still Outperform Broader Market

REITs retreated modestly in July, but still outperformed the broader market as wider macroeconomic concerns set the trend for the month, according to analysts.

The total return on the FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index dipped 0.2 percent in July, although the decline was smaller than the 1.4 percent fall in the S&P 500 Index during the same period.

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