Ric Campo, chairman and CEO of Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITworld: 2022 Annual Conference held in San Francisco on Nov. 15-17.
Campo said Camden’s operating fundamentals continue to be strong in the Sun Belt, and said the REIT is “positioned really, really well for 2023.”
Turning to the outlook for transaction activity, Campo said Camden is “sitting on our fortress balance sheet. We have one of the best balance sheets in REIT land.” He noted that the transaction environment is “very uncertain today, so we’re trying to take our time to figure out what to do…right now the best thing to do is nothing until we see more stability in the 10-year and what the real long-term cost of capital is.”
Campo also discussed the REIT’s recent development deals in the single family rental space as well as Camden’s development plans more broadly.
Camden is building two purpose-built single family rental subdivisions in Houston, which will serve as test projects. Campo noted that the single family rental space has become more institutional quality in the last five to six years. “We think it’s another product type for Camden.”
Looking at development overall, Campo said the REIT will take its time and delay multifamily development starts until there is more stability in the market. However, “long term, we love the development business and will continue to be very active in it.”