Nareit's REIT Report Podcast

Gina Szymanski, chief investment officer at AEW Capital Management’s global securities business, joined the latest episode of the REIT Report to share her insights into the year ahead. She noted that REITs are facing a favorable macroeconomic backdrop marked by good demand, moderating supply, and stable interest rates.“The setup for us is great. and I would highly recommend the average investor take a look at REITs,” Szymanski said. “We're experiencing some of the best growth that we've ever experienced,” she added.For the most part, the sectors that AEW has been overweight in are still favorites, Szymanski said. Number one on that list is senior housing, where AEW has been overweight across the globe. Data centers are in second place, followed by retail. Industrial remains “on the margin,” she added.

Melinda McLaughlin, Global Head of Research at Prologis, brings expertise on supply chain trends and logistics real estate. She discusses which international markets may outperform, e-commerce’s role in leasing and last-mile demand, rising on-site power needs from automation, defense-related real estate trends, trucking capacity pressures, and why adaptable supply chains will shape 2026.

Nareit’s Senior Vice President for Research Ed Pierzak and Nareit Vice President for Index Management and Industry Information John Barwick joined the REIT Report to highlight key themes and trends in Nareit’s 2026  REIT Outlook.Pierzak discussed the dual divergences at play between REITs and broader equities and REITs and private real estate. Each provides an opportunity for REITs to outperform, he said. At the same time, REIT balance sheets point to access to capital, putting the sector in a “great position to really embark on a growth opportunity in 2026,” alongside signs of a thawing in the transaction market, Pierzak said.Meanwhile, Barwick discussed global REIT performance, noting that currency movements were a significant tailwind for U.S.-based investors in 2025 as a weaker dollar bolstered the performance of international assets. For U.S. investors, strong local returns in developed Asia and developed Europe were further boosted when translated back into dollars, which widened the performance gap with North America, Barwick noted.Read the 2026 REIT outlook: https://www.reit.com/news/blog/market-commentary/2026-reit-outlook-trends-and-strategies

Ronald Kamdem, head of U.S. REITs and commercial real estate research at Morgan Stanley, joined the REIT Report podcast to discuss current performance in the office REIT sector and how it is positioned for 2026.Kamdem spoke about the recovery of the office market post-pandemic, highlighting regional variations, trends in leasing and utilization, the impact of new developments, and the future of class B assets. Current sentiment in the REIT space, and how valuations are influencing strategies moving forward, were also discussed.“There's a lot of excitement in the office market right now because there's certainly been a lot of leasing that's been done in 2025…for the first time from a financial perspective, you're in a position where in 2026 going into 2027, you're going to be able to post some sort of financial and earnings growth to the market that people want to see,” Kamdem said. He added that if interest rates continue to trend lower, that will provide an additional tailwind to earnings growth.

Andrew Alperstein, real estate partner at PwC, joined the REIT Report to share findings from the Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2026 outlook, produced with the Urban Land Institute. A major trend highlighted in the outlook is the shift away from a sector-based investment focus to one that drills down to the asset and submarket level.Alperstein explained that value creation in the real estate sector has reflected financing and lower cap rates. Going forward, “what we expect is that a lot more value creation will need to come through property operations, really driving revenue growth or rental growth, really being focused on expenses and capital spend, and less so on the capital markets in the coming years.”Alperstein described investor sentiment as slightly muted compared to recent years, reflecting uncertainty related to interest rates, valuations, transaction activity, and policy.

Jeff Edison, chairman and CEO of Phillips Edison & Co., Inc. (Nasdaq: PECO), joined the REIT Report to celebrate 65 years of REITs. He noted how the REIT structure has allowed PECO to efficiently raise capital in both the retail and institutional markets, enabling it to pursue aggressive growth and become one of the largest owners and operators of grocery-anchored shopping centers today.PECO was founded in 1991 and operated as a public non-listed REIT before its IPO in 2021.Edison noted that the REIT structure has made investing in real estate accessible to everyone. “PECO's investors can own the best necessity-based grocery and shopping centers across growing suburbs in the market... and our retail investors can invest alongside some of the biggest institutional investors in the world,” Edison said. Today, retail investors own about 25% of the REIT’s common shares, which is much higher than its peer average, he added.

Mike Acton, Head of Research and Strategy for North America at AEW, shares invaluable insights into the commercial real estate landscape. He explains how current valuations are driven by supply dynamics rather than recession fears, presenting a prime investment opportunity. Acton urges smaller investors to reconsider their portfolios, as leading institutional players are heavily invested in real estate. He also discusses potential M&A activity in distressed sectors, emphasizing the need for a focus on income growth amidst elevated tech valuations.

Darren Richman, CEO of Millrose Properties, Inc. (NYSE: MRP), joined the REIT Report podcast to discuss the land banking business model and how the REIT works with major home builders to improve capital efficiency.Millrose was spun off from home builder Lennar Corp. in February, allowing Lennar to focus on the consumer-facing aspect of its business by transferring the land development side to Millrose. The REIT works with Lennar and 11 other homebuilders.“The more modern form of land banking is about capital efficiency, where a builder is looking to clarify their own business model, looking to separate the opco (operating company) from the propco (property company),” he said.

Doug Weill, founder and co-managing partner at Hodes Weill and Associates, joined the REIT Report podcast to discuss findings from the 2025 Institutional Real Estate Allocations Monitor. Weill noted that institutions decreased target allocations by 10 basis points this year, although allocations are expected to increase by about the same amount in the coming 12 months. The survey showed market conviction “tick up a bit,” he added. “That to us indicates that institutions are increasingly ready to deploy capital and are viewing the next couple of years as potentially good vintages, which is what we hear over and over from institutions.”Weill also highlighted that about one in three institutions are actively allocating to REITs. “When we ask them about what it is about REITs that is most appealing, the two main or top objectives are liquidity and a proxy for core,” he noted.Larger institutions are more actively allocating to REITs, according to Weill, using dedicated in-house teams.

Randy Moss, an industry principal at Yardi, joined the latest episode of the REIT Report podcast to discuss the current landscape for energy management and sustainability reporting facing REITs and commercial real estate (CRE). Yardi is a Nareit Real Estate Sustainability Partner. Moss pointed to funding and building performance standards as key issues of the moment. “The challenge is understanding where your buildings have to comply, (and) what all-new data points you may be needing to collect,” he said. At the same time, utility companies are putting more roadblocks in the way of providing data, especially for tenant-occupied spaces in buildings, according to Moss. “Staying ahead of all of that is going to take some real focus within the REIT space,” he said.