The consulted managers have expressed a reasonable degree of optimism about the future of the REITs analyzing the entire economic, regulatory and political context that surrounds these companies nowadays, a conclusion also applicable in Spain.
The report also carries out a comparative analysis of the tax treatment of REITs in certain countries and in Spain, to the extent that SOCIMIs share with the main REIT regimes in the world the principle of transferring taxation to the partner-investor.
According to the report, the attractiveness of the investment in SOCIMI (REIT) continues to be the legal obligation of annual dividend payment for many investors and especially individuals and helps to give liquidity to the shares, as reflected in the report.
Although interest rates are expected to rise in the short / medium term, most of those interviewed in the report believe that the sector has the capacity to absorb increases of more than 100 basis points without affecting their business significantly.
Although even one of the executives interviewed answer that we may be closer to the next recession than the last one, the moment of the cycle is not a concern for the majority of executives consulted.
In fact, many believe that the expansive trend of REITs in recent years will continue in the medium term. This expansive trend is explained by: the controlled and reasonable leverage of REITs; for the ability to absorb upturns in interest rates and for the great professionalism and specialization of the management teams, together with the growing trend to invest only in specific and determined sectors.
Long-term trends
On the long-term trends, the biggest concern of the surveyed is the aging of the population, which entails a greater need for medical assistance (hospitals, residences, health center) and a greater number of homes due to the longer life expectancy. Another trend is the influence of Big Data and artificial intelligence. On the contrary, the factors that worry least in the long term are climate change and the rise of nationalisms in Europe.
The factor that most worries the directors of the REITs is the impact that the millennials will have on the work space and how they should adapt to these changes that they demand.