In the latest episode of The REIT Report: NAREIT’s Weekly Podcast, David Auerbach, an institutional REIT trader with Esposito Securities, offered an overview of some of the biggest stories in the REIT market in 2016. He also discussed some of the stories to watch in 2017.
Viewpoint: Sovereign Wealth Funds Among Major Stories for REITs
The prospects for REITs in 2016 are encouraging, with sovereign wealth funds continuing to invest aggressively in U.S. markets and the Fed’s policy of incremental interest rate hikes signaling confidence in the U.S. economy as a whole. Although the precipitous decline in oil prices has created headwinds in Houston, especially for multifamily and office sectors, even here, job growth remains positive. In the meantime, REITs are reconfiguring their portfolios to focus on new uses of space in the industrial and office sectors in response to new business models and advances in technology.