COVID-19 will accelerate existing trends in the REIT market

The global economic effects of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease COVID-19 will likely accelerate and reinforce existing trends in the REIT market, said Scott Crowe, CIO of CenterSquare Investment Management, and the effects of the outbreak will vary based on property sector.

“The REIT market is definitely bifurcated between sectors that will essentially benefit and those that won’t,” said Crowe.

Retail REITs, for example, will continue to operate in a challenging environment, made even more difficult in a global slowdown and period of widespread social distancing. A number of retail tenants were already close to the brink, noted Crowe, and there will likely be additional bankruptcies.