Trends Watch: Real Estate Outlook

EisnerAmper’s Trends Watch is a weekly entry to our Alternative Investments Intelligence blog, featuring the views and insights of executives from alternative investment firms. If you’re interested in being featured, please contact Elana Margulies-Snyderman.  

This week, Elana talks with Mason Sleeper, Co-CIO, Praedium Group.

What is your outlook for real estate?

We believe that multifamily will continue to perform strongly and will outperform other property types.  We believe that demographics will remain heavily favorable. We expect outperformance will be greater in growth markets where there are better state and fiscal conditions, especially in the South and West. Housing that caters to middle- and upper-middle-income tenants should perform well.

What is your outlook for the economy?

Economic growth continues and although we are in the longest economic expansion on record, there are still signs that economic growth will continue for some time, albeit at a slower rate. Having said that, there are other signs that could point to a potential downturn. Current cash flow, tenant income demographics (i.e., affordability) and new supply are all key underlying factors for positioning investments well in the event of a downturn.

What keeps you up at night?

For us, making certain that we continue to adapt in consideration of the continuous evolution of tenant preferences is often on our minds. We hope to ensure that our properties implement features that address these preferences that would help our properties stand above the competition and allow our communities to be first to lease.