Daniel Stegemoeller, senior banker at KeyBank, participated in a video interview in conjunction with Nareit’s REITweek: 2021 Investor Conference.
Real estate, and REITs in particular, were “extraordinarily well-positioned” going into the pandemic, Stegemoeller said. REITs came in with very strong balance sheets, intact business plans, laddered maturities, and low to modest leverage. “They came out the back side in as good a shape as anyone could hope,” he added.
Stegemoeller also addressed the impact of the pandemic on various property sectors, noting that it accelerated longer term trends “exponentially.”
Turning to capital market activity, Stegemoeller noted that the markets have been improving since last summer.
“Overall, the market is very quickly returning itself to a level of demonstrated stability and belief in a solid future, particularly given the performance of the REIT market through the pandemic and coming out of it with professional management, excellent use of technology, and very, very strong balance sheets,” Stegemoeller said.