Colonial Properties (NYSE:CLP), Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA), Camden Property (NYSE:CPT) FBR's Top REIT Picks

Taking into account the regional outlook for REITs in 2011, FBR said their favorite picks in the group are Colonial Properties (NYSE:CLP), Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) and Camden Property (NYSE:CPT).

On the other hand, the weakest outlooks in the group are Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR), AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB), and Associated Estates (NYSE:AEC).

FBR said, "In our MSA Monitor screen, we utilize 3Q10 REIT data and current one-, two- and three-year forward forecasts from a variety of data providers, coupled with our proprietary model, and conclude that Colonial Properties Trust (Market Perform), Mid-America Apartment Communities (Underperform), and Camden Property Trust (Underperform) could have the strongest 12-month-forward regional outlooks. Equity Residential (Underperform), AvalonBay Communities (Outperform), and Associated Estates (Outperform) could have the weakest.

"Following the climb by HME were move-ups for CPT and MAA, unsurprising given the high Texas/Sunbelt exposure. Stocks that declined in the current ranking were ESS and AVB, both falling two spots, followed by single-spot drops by AIV, AEC, and UDR. Remaining unchanged were CLP and EQR."

Colonial Properties closed Friday at $17.96, up $0.39, or 2.22 percent. Mid-America was at $62.87, up $0.99, or 1.60 percent. Camden ended at $52.36, up $0.98, or 1.91 percent.

Equity Residential ended the week at $51.56, up Friday by $0.36, or 0.70 percent. Avalonbay closed at $113.12, up $2.64, or 2.39 percent. Associated Estates closed at $15.37, up $0.09, or 0.59 percent.