Carina Kalaw, managing director and head of Real Estate Syndications at Capital One, joined REIT.com for a recent video interview at REITWorld 2013: NAREIT’s Annual Convention for All Things REIT at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis.
Kalaw was asked about changes in the credit environment over the course of 2013, and what trends are likely in the coming year.
Kalaw said the credit environment improved in 2013. “There’s definitely a lot of liquidity for REIT paper. At least on the banking side I foresee a lot of pricing compression, (and) improved interest from other new lenders coming into the market, and I foresee that it will improve in 2014.”
Turning to the question of trends in REIT transaction volume, Kalaw responded, “I’m seeing a lot of activity in acquisition – particularly consolidation. American Realty and Cole merging, that’s one of the more exciting things that’s happening on that front. But going forward it looks like there could be more of those, particularly more acquisitions not of that size that will come in 2014. Also, there’s been a lot of initial public offerings (IPOs) which are really exciting.”
In terms of specific REIT sectors, Kalaw pointed out that the triple net sector is “becoming more exciting…that’s the one sector to watch out for.” Kalaw predicted “a lot more activity in the coming year” within the triple net sector.