REITs Could Continue to Shine in 2002

WASHINGTON, DC-The past couple of years have been good to the Real Estate Investment Trust industry, and in a media teleconference, the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts speculated on whether the market would continue to shine on REITs in 2002. The organization also addressed an issue that could bring the real estate market down to greater depths than ever seen in recent years–Congress’s action on terrorism insurance legislation.

Beginning with the outlook for REITs this year, NAREIT president and CEO Steven A. Wechsler described the big picture, saying, “the REIT and publicly traded REIT industry is bigger than you think.” He went on to say that REITs surpass even the airline and aerospace industries in size. “This is not your father’s REIT industry,” he quipped.

Weschsler then turned to senior vice presidents Michael R. Grupe and Tony M. Edwards to elaborate on the future of REITs and the terrorism insurance situation. Grupe’s take on what may be can only be described as cautious optimism. “We face an economic environment of significant challenges, as well as a capital market that is still adjusting,” he explained. “Most analysts–on Wall Street and in the academic community–have a high level of uncertainty as to how that’s all going to play out.” He also noted that Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan recently commented that there is no clear data that the economy is on the verge of emerging form the current slump.