All Smiles at REIT Confab

SAN FRANCISCO -- This year, the pockets of the attendees of the annual National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts convention looked a little fatter, and it was hard to find a face without a smile.

That should really be no surprise, given that the REIT stocks are up 27% this year, based on the U.S. MSCI REIT index, and are set to beat the broader indices for the seventh straight year.

With the huge amount of capital flowing into the space from private equity and pension funds, it was hard for most industry participants at the conference to imagine any sort of meaningful correction in the space, despite recent earnings disappointments from the likes of General Growth Properties(GGP Quote), Mack Cali(CLI Quote), Post Properties (PPS Quote) and Equity Residential(EQR Quote). ...