Rental REITs Look Ready to Reverse Course

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Avoid multifamily REITs in 2012, Bank of Montreal recommends.

As the housing market looks poised to recover, with many expecting home prices to bounce off the bottom this year, BMO analyst Richard Anderson says multifamily REITs have a tough valuation to maintain.

While the next several years look to be good for the apartment rental business, Anderson said rent looks to be "plateauing" and that the chance of something "derailing momentum" is a distinct possibility.

"We are positive on the business of the multifamily REITs, but collectively negative on the stocks because we think valuations presume growth will accelerate during 2012," Anderson wrote in a note Monday. "So far, 2012 guidance has generally been in line with expectations, and absent the pizzazz of accelerating growth that we think is baked into stocks."