Stock price when the opinion was issued
Generally, caution is warranted in apartments. Stocks are now coming into interesting levels. Great population growth, but could turn negative next year. Very good portfolio. Selling older buildings and buying new from developers. So cashflow growth should improve -- buildings won't need such extensive repairs, plus new buildings are not subject to rent control.
Sale of manufactured housing communities business will give them lots of cash. Look for share buybacks. Long term, feels good about multi-family residential. Just sit through the mid-term volatility.
CHP.UN is far more defensive. Great portfolio, with about 20% in industrial warehouse space (a sector he's quite bullish on). If you want defense, this is your better bet.
With CAR.UN, you have to think about affordability and how defensive is the tenant base and the cashflow from that base. Great portfolio, with higher concentration in Ontario -- something to keep in mind if you're concerned about tariffs and loss of manufacturing jobs in southwestern Ontario. See his Top Picks.
Owns it for income. Despite stock slide, demand for rental housing still outstrips supply. Government announced decreased immigration and international student numbers. Lots of condos coming onto the market, condo market's been very weak, and this is causing rental rates to soften. But CAR.UN tends to be outside urban areas and have larger apartments.
Rent control had an impact. Turnover was very low. Selling a lot of older, rent-controlled properties. Attractive, low-priced condo market should benefit them as people may feel they can now make the move to a condo. Nice yield just under 4%.
Long-term, yes, for residential REITs, like apartment ones. They also benefit from more immigration. This leads to higher rents. InterRent, Minto and CAP are his preferreds in this space. CAP is the biggest, and they hold a super-quality portfolio that they've been upgrading in recent years. All these are focused in Ontario. but they benefit from lower interest rates. A caveat: Ottawa is slowing immigration to Canada, which feeds demand for apartments. Expect choppiness, but these are good holds.