Scotiabank The real estate analytics team at Scotiabank global equity research recently hosted a series of meetings with apartment REIT management,
“We held the Panel lunch, 1x1s, and Property Tour this week. Panelists = BEI [Boardwalk REIT], CAR [Canadian Apartment Properties REIT], IIP [Interrent REIT], KMP [Killam Apartment REIT] and MI [Minto Apartment REIT]. Client lunch participation was +56% y/y … We felt the panel view was very bullish, moreso than last year (CAR mentioned never being this bullish), with one key difference = substantially lower regulatory concerns … Our bias remains higher Apartment allocations at least heading into the fall. Our top Residential Picks = CAR, TCN, and IIP… We expect Apartment REIT outperformance in 2024, albeit decelerated; attractive defence in a hard landing is 50% of the positive thesis. CAD Apartment REITs are -2% YTD vs. -1% for CAD REIT sector, following avg. 17% outperformance in 2023. CAD Apartment REITs outperformed CAD REITs and U.S. Peers in 3 of the past 4 years … Tight market intact, but we think big unit price upside needs growing market rents’