On Track to $2B in Net Lease Deals

Last year W. P. Carey did $1.3 billion in net lease transactions and the REIT’s head of investments, Gino Sabatini, is the first to admit those deals were challenging. “There was a standoff between buyers and sellers over cap rates. It hasn’t yet broken but I think it is super close to breaking,” he tells GlobeSt.com.”Part of that is the interest rate environment, which has stabilized. There is not this constant fear of another rate hike when you do a deal and I think for that reason sellers and buyers are getting more comfortable.”

Partly for that reason, this year will be easier, Sabatini says and he is comfortable with the REIT’s transaction guidance of $1.5 billion to $2 billion for 2024, with the midpoint at $1.75 billion. About two-thirds of that will be in the US and one-third in Europe, where it has had a long-standing presence.