REIT Valuation Levels Attracting Investor Attention

LaSalle Investment Management Securities Global CEO Lisa Kaufman said REITs are attracting investor attention on the basis that they currently offer “very good value” relative to the private market, as well as on a historic basis relative to equities and bonds.Speaking July 6 on the Nareit REIT Report podcast, Kaufman said REITs in the United States and globally have “dramatically repriced,” and are materially underperforming broader equities and private real estate, “so we do see very good value today.”LaSalle has lowered its REIT net asset value (NAV) estimates about 15%, and even with that reduction “we see some big discounts on offer,” Kaufman said. This is not lost on investors, she said, particularly the more opportunistic ones who are “adding money to the sector or even launching new programs to take advantage of what they see, and what we would agree, is a really good entry point.”