Archive for October 31st, 2007
by David Bodamer October 31st, 2007
There’s still some time left for companies to fill out and be listed in our annual Top Developers Survey. We’ve begun to produce an annual list showing what firms have under construction broken out by what’s opening in the next 12 months and also by what total development portfolios are worth.
It’s an online survey. But I also have a PDF if you prefer that route. You simply need to email me and I’ll be sure to send it to you to fax back.
The listing run with a research piece that we’re also working on. In last year’s research survey we found, unsurprisingly, that many firms were focusing on mixed-use development.
Also available are last year’s developer listings.
Related Topics: Development, News, Research |
by David Bodamer October 31st, 2007
Faced with a down market earlier this year, REITs began authorizing billions of dollars’ worth of stock repurchases from shareholders. Approximately 50 REITs, including high-profile companies such as Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG) had authorized buybacks by the end of August, according to REIT analysts at BMO Capital Markets who have been tracking this year’s repurchase activity. Firms announced north of $1 billion in authorized incremental repurchases during the latter half of 2007’s second quarter alone. At the end of August, outstanding buyback authorizations stood at 2.2 percent of REIT equity market capitalization.
Repurchase programs aren’t just a passing fad, according to BMO analyst Paul Adornato. “So long as the economics of buybacks work, we will likely continue to see buyback activity,” Adornato says. “The correction in REIT stock prices has created an opportunity for many REITs to repurchase their stock so that it is accretive to earnings.”
However, even though shareholders have generally reacted favorably to such programs, it’s not certain that buybacks are a wise move for every REIT navigating the ebbs and flows of the market.
Full story at NAREIT.
Related Topics: Finance, Investment, News, REITs, Retail Real Estate |
by David Bodamer October 31st, 2007
We’ll be putting a story on our home page later today about this, but for now, check this run-down of REIT third quarter earnings so far.
The initial quarterly results from real-estate investment trusts have been decent so far this earnings season, but REIT stocks are still languishing in negative territory, in danger of trailing the broad market after seven straight years of outperformance.
Aside from the latest batch of financial results, REIT-oriented investors will be keeping a close eye on the Federal Reserve’s looking decision on interest rates. The volatile REIT sector got a lift in mid-September, when the Fed cut rates by a surprisingly large half a percentage point, but has traded lower through much of October.
Still, the commercial real-estate market has held up relatively better than the residential side, which has been further weakened by exposure to the subprime-mortgage mess.
Through Monday’s close, the Dow Jones Wilshire REIT ETF (RWR) , an exchange- traded fund tracking the REIT sector, was off 6.5% for the year to date, trailing the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by more than 16 percentage points, according to Morningstar Inc. data.
Related Topics: Finance, News, REITs, Retail Real Estate |
