Public or private real estate—understand the risks, returns, and market trends.
The scope of real estate has broadened over time, with traditional core sectors such as office, retail, residential, and industrial now being complemented by emerging sectors such as student housing, single-family rental, self-storage, healthcare (medical office and senior housing), data centers, and telecommunications. Investors aiming to access this expanding market typically choose between two primary investment vehicles: publicly traded (listed) real estate investment trusts (REITs) and private (non-listed) real estate funds. Although both involve similar underlying assets, they differ notably in sector exposure, risk and return objectives, price volatility, leverage, and liquidity.
This paper provides a comprehensive framework for forecasting real estate performance across both public and private investment vehicles.