While not all property sectors will be affected to the same degree or in the same way, S&P believes that all markets will face challenges both in the near and longer terms:

• Retail properties catering to nondiscretionary spending are expected to fare relatively well, but operating and financing costs will rise for larger retail properties and those that are more entertainment-focused.
• Apartment and manufactured home communities will contend with expected layoffs, falling rents and rising delinquencies.
• Office and industrial portfolios will continue to benefit from long-term leases and good-credit tenants, but demands for greater workplace security, locations preferences and retooling of business models will affect operating costs.
• Stand-alone retail properties will become even more dependent on the health of the primary tenant because strong locations are now offset by a dwindling pool of replacement tenants.
• Health care-oriented and self-storage properties will benefit from the more essential services provided (health care) and the comparatively low break-even occupancy requirements (storage).

She stresses, however, that much more time will pass before any meaningful analysis of the impact that the bombings will have on REITs. "It's only three weeks since September 11 and we do not believe we can easily extrapolate the future based upon very recent post-attack trends," she says. "We're following north of 70 companies, so clearly we'll continue to take a company-by-company approach to monitoring events over the next couple of months.