According to an article on the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), with the latest news from India, 31 countries now have REIT regimes in place, a group that includes both developed markets and developing economies. Remarkably, a decade ago there were only a dozen countries with REIT legislation, and just over 20 countries as recently as five years ago.
Jim Rehlaender, CEO of Northwood Securities, provided his views in a related article. Northwood Securities invests in listed real estate companies around the world. Rehlaender said that he has been watching the Indian market for years and India’s government recently approved REITs. However, he declined to invest in India “due to a lot of complications.” He speculated that the India government would likely pass new legislation to formally create a REIT structure in 2015. “It could open a massive amount of real estate investment in a market that sorely needs it,” he said. “The excitement about the new government has fed into the real estate stock prices as well. For the moment they look a bit expensive; and, yet, on the ground, these companies are really struggling…”
