April 14, 2026
Real Estate Value

Barron’s: This Real Estate Pro Likes Fannie Mae, U-Haul, and Other Housing Plays

Key takeaways include:

  • Distinctive approach to listed real estate. Third Avenue focuses on well-capitalized real estate operating companies (rather than REITs) trading at significant discounts to long-term value. They prefer operating companies because they can retain and reinvest capital, a structural advantage in the capital-intensive real estate business.
  • Compelling price-to-value proposition. The fund is down year-to-date, due to weakness in real estate services stocks, international holdings, interest-rate volatility, and residential-related positions. That said, the Fund only has 8% overlap with the core real estate index and expects to look "out of step" at times. In fact, Dobratz sees the current environment as a great buying opportunity, noting the portfolio trades at roughly a 30% discount to his estimate of net asset value.
  • Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac remain a key holding. The fund has held the preferred equity of these government-sponsored mortgage companies since 2020. Their combined net worth is approaching $180 billion, and Dobratz believes the process on bringing them out of conservatorship remains on track.
  • Residential housing plays are a core exposure. Top holdings include Lennar (now "land-light" after spinning off its land bank), PulteGroup (for its 55+ Del Webb communities), and Champion Homes (a potential beneficiary of proposed manufactured housing deregulation). Single-family rental companies like American Homes 4 Rent are also flagged as attractively valued.
  • CBRE and U-Haul stand out in commercial real estate. Dobratz sees CBRE as an AI beneficiary rather than a victim, given its focus on large, complex deals and data center exposure. U-Haul is highlighted for its self-storage platform, which he believes is worth twice as much as its core moving business.
  • International real estate offers even deeper discounts. The fund is active in developed markets like the U.K., Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore, where listed real estate trades at larger discounts than in the U.S. A notable current holding is Big Yellow Group, the largest self-storage operator in the U.K.
Read the PDF
read full article
read full article
LISTEN HERE
watch video here