'WE WILL REVERT TO PREDICTABLE RETURNS IN THE HIGH TEENS'

Martin Cohen, president of Cohen & Steers Capital Management, is the largest investor in REITs by far. In addition to his $3.3 billion-asset flagship fund, Cohen & Steers Realty Shares, he has just launched two new funds, one growth oriented, one focused on yield.

ON THE REIT RISE ''It is not over, and it is not going to be. For the first time, pension funds, financial institutions, and families that owned real estate directly are swapping their direct holdings for shares of REITs. That shift is still accelerating.''

ON THE OUTLOOK FOR 1998 ''We have had extraordinary returns as the market has adjusted to a new world of professionally managed real estate companies. Now, we will revert to predictable returns in the midteens. We are confident for 1998 and 1999.''

ON DEVELOPMENT ''Other than in Las Vegas, I don't see things coming out of the ground that don't make sense.''

ON HIS NEW FUNDS ''The REIT market is now big enough for a range of strategies. Our main fund is not always the top performer because it is conservative. With our [more aggressive] Special Equity fund, we will focus on capital appreciation. We started Equity Income because we are excited by the shortage of yield in today's world. REITs are high-yielding relative to any other instrument.''