REITs are likely to attract growing interest from private real estate funds looking to deploy capital where they see value discrepancies, says Christian Busken, senior vice president and director of real assets at FEG Investment Advisors.

“There's a growing recognition that REITs present some attractive opportunities and I think that we'll see more private firms getting into the space,” Busken told the REIT Report podcast. He noted that “it's not unusual for us to see some of our private real estate funds selectively take positions in REITs where they see some kind of a value discrepancy.”

Busken added that with $300 billion-plus of private real estate dry powder on the sidelines and needing to be deployed, “we could definitely see more private funds playing in the market.”