Word: reit
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...what's wrong with real estate? Plenty. Anyone who sunk money into publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trusts, or REITs, has been scorched badly. Last year the average REIT stock sank 17% while the Standard & Poor's 500 soared 27%, and REITs' dismal showing has extended into early 1999. Never have REITs lagged the market by such a wide margin. They're more out of favor than a home with peeling paint and shag carpets...
...school with a KICK ME sign stuck to your back. You'll probably get pummeled. Investors want growth and capital gain. Period. That's apparent in today's fury to own money-losing, dividendless Internet and other tech stocks. Meanwhile, there is some question whether the rash of REITs will smooth the real estate cycle as advertised. The theory goes like this: with many real estate companies dependent on stock sales to fund projects, Wall Street becomes a long-sought governor over the industry. Just when there is a danger of overbuilding, REIT shares should fall and limit the industry...
Starwood Lodging, a real estate investment trust (REIT) based in Phoenix, Ariz., was able to outbid Hilton because of a loophole in the tax laws that jacks up a reit's market value. If ITT stockholders approve the deal, the new combination would become the largest lodging company in the world, with 650 hotels in 70 countries and total annual revenues of more than $10 billion. As for Araskog, 65, under the plan he will step down next year and get a seat on Starwood's board plus a consolation prize: a $55 million severance package that was designed...
...REIT investors have enjoyed a spectacular 35% gain in the past 12 months. That's why Barton Biggs, chief global strategist at Morgan Stanley, recently cut his exposure, noting that the stocks trade for 27% more than the underlying property they own. But that premium may be justified, given that REITs make it easy to buy and sell commercial real estate for any size portfolio. Besides, property values are rising from the ashes of the '80s bust, and rents are going up too. Biggs believes REITs will return 12% over the next 12 months. Steve Hash, an analyst at Lehman...
...best prospects are in hotel and office REITs. Apartment buildings and strip centers are well into a recovery, and malls are in long-term decline, says Mike Kirby, principal at Green Street Advisors. He likes Liberty Properties Trust and Host Marriott. But in the jargony REIT world, you might stick with mutual funds. REITs aren't perfect, but they're decent cover in a shaky market...