John Worth, Nareit executive vice president, research and investor outreach, was a guest on the latest episode of the REIT Report podcast. Worth discussed some of the key features of Nareit’s recently-published 2025 REIT Outlook.
REITs have ready access to unsecured debt markets as well as the ability to issue equity, Worth said, which puts the sector in a strong position for 2025.
“The markets are wide open for REITs. Their debt is executing at attractive pricing, with very attractive spreads to the 10-year Treasury. We think that ability to have dry powder in the form of well-managed balance sheets and the ability to get financing and raise equity quickly when there are accretive growth opportunities, is something that's going to really be critical and a real positive for REITs in 2025 in terms of finding growth opportunities,” Worth said.
Meanwhile, Nareit has identified four key megatrends that will continue to shape the global REIT landscape over the coming decade: specialization, scale, innovation, and sustainability. “All four of them are areas where REITs are really well poised and have real ability to execute,” Worth said.
Worth added that he expects institutional investors to continue to look to REITs for portfolio completion strategies in 2025. He sees “tremendous opportunities” for the REIT model to be used effectively, both by U.S. pensions as well as globally by both pensions and sovereign wealth funds, in terms of pairing public and private real estate in “really smart and effective ways.”