Ryan Severino on Opportunities Across CRE Asset Classes

By Brielle Scott for Market Share Blog | December 9, 2025

Ryan Severino, chief economist and head of research at BGO, joined NAIOP’s Inside CRE podcast to share his data-driven perspective on how global trends translate into real-world impacts for developers and investors.

Listen to the full discussion and read the excerpt below as Severino talked through each major asset class, sharing his impressions and the potential opportunities out there for savvy investors.

“I think that there are opportunities in almost every property type, but I think the aperture of that differs considerably,” Severino said.

“I’ve liked retail for a long time, but I think that retail’s perception is lagging the reality: That retail has done a very good job of right-sizing its inventory over the last 10 to 15 years,” he added. If you look at the asset class now, it’s got the lowest vacancy rate by hundreds of basis points, irrespective of whose data set you happen to use.

Rents are still growing at a healthy pace, and big regional malls aren’t really built in the U.S. anymore. Even smaller centers really need a lot of pre-leasing to get built and get financing to come online, he pointed out. “I like the stability of retail; I like the cash flow it produces. I know it can be difficult to buy assets that don’t appreciate the way other property types do, but I do really like it.”

Severino also thinks industrial has a bright future. There is oversupply in some pockets of the U.S., but he believes we’re largely out of that phase; the supply pipeline is falling off. “If you do your homework and pick your spots carefully, I think there still is a lot of opportunity there.”

Severino said that the multifamily sector is in a similar cycle. Maybe not as widespread in terms of geography – the oversupply is more concentrated in the southern parts of the U.S., but the development there was a temporary phenomenon. “If anything, I think [multifamily] is a pretty good harbinger for where industrial is likely to go because it’s already past peak vacancy and we’re now starting to see a little bit of a [cap rate] compression, especially in some parts of the country,” he added.

When it comes to the office market, “I want to be careful about sounding too sanguine, but I’ve probably been, on average, more positive about office.”