As their peers in the for-sale housing market begin to recover from their monumental valuation drops in late 2007 and 2008, apartment REITs seem to be faring well, according to a recent report from Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.

Things might not look as good as 2006 and 2007, but they still aren't bad, according to George Skoufis, S&P's primary apartment REIT analyst. "In 2008, we expect continued moderation but positive rent growth," he says. "From a fundamentals standpoint, we've seen moderation in rent growth and NOI growth."

Green Street Advisors, based in Newport Beach, Calif., also studies the REIT market and sees positive growth potential. The firm projected that revenue growth would hit 3.8 percent coming into the year, but those projections have since fallen back to the 3.5 percent mark.

"Apartment REITs overall this year should still achieve positive revenue growth, even in the face of a mild recession," says Haendel St. Juste, an analyst with Green Street. "Despite a slowing economy and an increased supply of single-family and condo "shadow rentals" in certain markets, the supply/demand picture is still in pretty good balance."

Skoufis sees the for-sale market troubles as one of the biggest boosts to the supply/demand equation. "Homeownership is coming down," he says. "That will benefit the multifamily sector."

Even with a slight recession, St. Juste thinks multifamily will hold up. "Demand will still be driven from household formation, a declining homeownership rate, and Echo Boomer demand," he says. "Even in periods of very weak job growth, new household formations tend to bottom out at around 500,000 per year, a result of an ever-growing population."

All of these factors help the REITs, of course. S&P sees AvalonBay (BBB+/Positive), Equity Residential (A-/Stable), and Camden (BBB+/Stable) as setting the pace for the multifamily sector, though it recently downgraded both AvalonBay (for its large development pipeline) and Equity (for not having debt protection).

Although BRE Properties (BBB/Stable), Essex Property Trust (BBB/Stable), Post Properties (BBB/Credit Watch) and UDR (BBB/Stable) were at the bottom of the REITs list, Skoufis says they're still fairing well compared to other sectors.

"They're solidly investment grade," Skoufis adds.