REIT Correction Termed Overdue

Meanwhile, industry experts at another conference said the recent 15% downdraft in real estate investment trust stock prices was overdue.Jon Fosheim, principal and co-founder of Green Street Advisors Inc., said REIT stocks were trading at a premium and the correction was necessary. "The time had come. The REITs were overpriced," he told a real estate conference sponsored by the Urban Land Institute Washington. "We think REITS are now trading right on top of their real estate values." Richard Kincaid, president and chief executive officer of Equity Office Properties Trust, noted that REIT stocks have outperformed the broader market for the past four years and said some investors decided it was time to rotate into other stocks. "We were due for a correction, as painful as it was," Mr. Kincaid said.