We recently compiled a list of the 10 Best Performing Real Estate Stocks to Buy According to Analysts. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Net Lease Office Properties (NYSE:NLOP) stands against the other real estate stocks.
US Real Estate at a Glance
While uncertainty looms over the United States under the new admin in terms of tariffs, the real estate sector and especially new construction is expected to face some consequences. According to the chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders, the new tariffs could raise builder costs from $7,500 to $10,000 per home. With a third of the lumber utilized in US homebuilding coming from Canada, homebuilders will be impacted significantly by lumber cost increases. Paul Jannke, principal at Forest Economic Advisors, reiterated the adverse effects of these tariffs, stating:
“With the re-imposition of the 25% tariff on Canadian goods shipped to the U.S., we expect Canadian producers will stop shipping lumber to the U.S. Meanwhile, dealers, who have been hesitant to buy given uncertainty around the tariffs, will need to step up purchases ahead of the coming building season. This will drive prices higher.”
Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, also discussed the potential impact of these tariffs on real estate as he said:
“Rising costs due to tariffs on imports will leave builders with few options. They can choose to pass higher costs along to consumers, which will mean higher home prices, or try to use less of these materials, which will mean smaller homes”
Amidst tariffs, the housing market is already ‘in a deep freeze’ as mentioned by Mark Zandi, Moody’s Analytics chief economist, in his interview with CNBC. Although inventories are up, they continue to be extremely low by historical standards. According to Zandi, the market is not going to come back to life to any significant degree unless the mortgage rates come closer to 6% or even into the 5% range.
Our Methodology
In order to compile a list of the 10 best performing real estate stocks to buy according to analysts, we first used a stock screener to make an extended list of the relevant companies that have gained over the past year, as of March 4. After shortlisting the stocks with the most significant gains over the past year, we shortlisted the top 10 stocks with the highest upside potential, as of March 4. The 10 best performing real estate stocks to buy according to analysts have been arranged in ascending order of their average upside potential. Additionally, we have mentioned the hedge fund sentiment around each stock, as of Q4 2024.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
A view of bustling offices in Greenwich, Connecticut with professionals working.
Net Lease Office Properties (NYSE:NLOP)
Average Upside Potential: 41.32%
Gain Over Past 1 Year: 35.57%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 18
Net Lease Office Properties (NYSE:NLOP) is a real estate investment trust that has a portfolio of 39 high-quality office properties, with a majority of the properties owned by the REIT situated in the United States, with the rest in Europe.
The REIT has successfully accomplished significant expertise in the single-tenant office real estate sector in its 50-year history. Other than having a proven track record in office and net lease properties, NLOP favors from the core strength of its high-quality, net lease portfolio which remains diversified by tenant, industry, and geography in addition to favorable exposure to investment grade credit, staggered lease terms, and a consistent performance through market cycles including the global pandemic.
Net Lease Office Properties’ (NYSE:NLOP) business plan revolves around creating value for its shareholders mainly through strategic asset management and disposition of its property portfolio. In January, the real estate investment trust announced the sales of five office properties in November and December totaling $43 million. Total gross proceeds from dispositions completed during the year 2024 stood at approximately $364 million.
Overall NLOP ranks 1st on our list of the best performing real estate stocks to buy according to analysts. While we acknowledge the potential of NLOP as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued AI stock that is more promising than NLOP but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.