HOW HIGH IS UP?

Implications: A mall is worth what the market is willing to pay! The market has demonstrated that the traditional guidelines of value set by some measure of current or future earnings, have given way to the "feeding frenzy" of so much cash chasing so few available "quality" products. It has also given way to such matters as interest rates and the value of the dollar relative to interest rates and currency values in other countries. In short, there is simply no way to anticipate what the Pyramid portfolio will bring. A dominant regional mall in today's world   of vanishing department stores, simply cannot be duplicated. Most of Pyramid's malls are virtually monopolies in their respective trade areas simply because they contain the only department stores left standing! There are no other department stores left to start a competing mall! It will be interesting to see what the market will pay for this rare and valuable product.

Analysis: Regardless of what price the portfolio is sold at, the impact will be enormous on all existing mall REITs. It will  force the analyst to immediately rethink the values of the malls currently owned by the "big five" REITs. I suspect that there will be a rush to revalue not only the winning REIT's portfolio but all the portfolios of all the mall REITs!