W
e're taking a closer look at Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) in the context of top real estate stocks favored by billionaires. According to CBRE Investment Management, global listed real estate has significant potential for growth and outperformance compared to broad equities and private markets. The firm expects 2025 to be characterized by accelerating organic earnings due to improved supply/demand dynamics across various sectors and abundant access to capital supporting potential acquisitions and upside to estimates.

    A new cycle for listed real estate began in Q4 2023, triggered by the recognition of a pause in rate hikes. This absence of hikes is expected to benefit listed real estate, even without a significant decrease in target rates. Historically, real estate has performed well during periods of range-bound long-term yields, such as between 2001-2007 when US 10-year bonds yielded around 4-5% and listed real estate generated double-digit average returns.

    CBRE Investment Management forecasts 5% earnings growth globally across the real estate sectors in 2025, more than doubling 2024 levels. This broad-based strength is driven by private-pay senior housing capitalizing on demographic trends, data center growth accelerating with generative AI, and cell towers gradually recovering from customer churn. The investment firm also notes that retail and net leases have been performing well due to supply/demand imbalances and prevailing capital costs.

    With a ~4% dividend yield, listed real estate remains competitive compared to private real estate income, and the dividend continues to grow based on conservative payout levels. Amidst moderating central bank target rates and range-bound long-term yields, CBRE Investment Management believes that listed real estate is poised for prosperity in 2025.