Real Estate Investment Trusts

A Dividends Through Diversity (DTD) reception took place during REITweek: 2018 Investor Conference, sponsored by Ferguson Partners. Nareit’s President and CEO Steve Wechsler kicked off the event by outlining the goals behind Nareit’s DTD initiative, which was launched at REITweek 2017. The Dividends Through Diversity initiative was created to promote the recruitment, inclusion and advancement of women in REITs and the broader commercial real estate industry.

Demand for health care services is likely to remain steady in the next decade or two as the baby boomer generation has just reached retirement age, according to health care REIT executives presenting at Nareit’s REITweek 2018: Investor Conference.

“We will have demand as people live longer today,” said Debra Cafaro, CEO of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE: VTR). Businesses in senior housing, medical office building (MOB) and life science research are currently in a bright spot, Cafaro said during the conference.

The real estate market in the United States is likely to continue to grow for the next three to five years as current policies such as tax reform benefit the industry, according to a panel at a Capital Markets Update lunchtime session during REITweek: 2018 Investor Conference. At the same time, the industry must respond to the underlying challenges created by demographic and technological change.

The growing millennial tenant base is reshaping the REIT industry as the demand for amenities continues to evolve, according to companies presenting at Nareit’s REITweek: 2018 Investor Conference.

Rooftop areas, bike storage rooms, and shuffleboard tables are some of the new must-haves, they say.

Mack-Cali Realty Corp. (NYSE: CLI) has seen this amenity-focused trend, driven by millennial-based hiring.

REIT returns were higher in May as investor concern about the impact of higher interest rates on the sector receded somewhat, according to market watchers.

The total returns of the FTSE Nareit All REITs Index rose 3.5 percent in May, while the S&P 500 rose 2.4 percent. The total returns of the FTSE Nareit Mortgage REIT Index gained 2.7 percent in May.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped 0.1 percent in May.