Getting In on the Ground Floor
July 27th, 2009
| Tags: asset value, avalon, challenges, estate investment trust, real estate investment
ONCE THE POSTER CHILD FOR AN EXUBERANT real-estate market — and exuberant real-estate stocks — AvalonBay Communities has had its comeuppance. The real-estate investment trust’s shares have fallen 61% in the past two-and-a-half years, as higher financing costs, lower rental income and leverage combined to devastating effect. But there is some good news: At a recent 56, Avalon’s shares (ticker: AVB) reflect these challenges, and the deeply depressed state of the apartment-rental market generally. The stock is trading near the company’s asset value, which analysts estimate is between $47 and $70 a share, down from more than $120 two years .[...]








