By Robert Lehman, Global Leader of REIT Services, Ernst & Young: Looking at the public equity REIT market in the U.S. today, you would be hard put to tell that in 2008 — at the height of the global recession and financial crisis — the market had crashed, and some market analysts questioned whether it could survive.

By Robert Lehman, Director of REIT Services, Ernst & Young: Ernst & Young’s Global Real Estate Center recently surveyed 82 chief financial officers running North America’s top real estate investment trusts. The survey revealed that many of the nation’s top REITs are feeling positive about their business prospects.