Todd Kellenberger, REIT client portfolio manager at Principal Asset Management, was a guest on the latest episode of Nareit’s REIT Report podcast. Kellenberger discussed how REITs are likely to perform amid either an economic soft landing or mild recession, as well as the impact of lower interest rates on the sector.
“The general trajectory of where markets are headed is favorable for real estate,” Kellenberger said. He noted that the Federal Reserve is seeking to ease monetary conditions to avoid an economic hard landing, “and that will importantly bring down the cost of capital for real estate and likely bring a recovery to property values.”
Kellenberger noted that lower interest rates are also likely to spur a resumption of transaction activity, providing an additional potential tailwind for the REIT market.
With REITs trading at premiums to net asset values, in anticipation of rising real estate values, “we could see public REITs coming to the market using their ATMs or doing secondary offerings for issuing stock, maybe looking to build up a bit of reserve of cash to go on the offensive for transactions,” Kellenberger said.