Three members of Citi’s global real estate research team—Nick Joseph in the U.S., Aaron Guy in the U.K., and Howard Penny in Australia—were guests on the latest episode of the Nareit REIT Report podcast. 

Amid the market cross currents of slower global economic growth, offset to some extent by anticipated lower interest rates, “we are generally constructive on commercial real estate in 2024,” Joseph said. At the same time, Citi’s 2024 global real estate outlook also stresses the importance of stock picking, rather than broader sector and subsector allocations.

For the U.S., Citi is projecting total returns for REITs of 10% to 15% in 2024, with adjusted FFO growth of about 3%. “Growth is being driven by slowing but still solid operating results, development and the redevelopment benefit that is coming on, and the retention of free cash flow,” Joseph said.