Market Commentary

The FTSE EPRA/Nareit Global Real Estate Index Series performed strongly in 2021, with the Developed index posting a total return of 27.2%, while the Global index, which includes both Developed and Emerging Markets, returned 23.0%.

The recovery in commercial real estate markets accelerated throughout 2021, especially in the final months of the year.

A close examination of REIT financial exposures suggests that increases in interest rates may have little impact on their operating performance.

At the end of 2020, U.S. public REITs owned an estimated 502,937 properties and 15.1 million acres of timberland across the U.S.

In 2021, REITs outperformed the S&P 500 by 12.6 percentage points with an annual return of 41.3%.

The FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs index performed strongly in 2021, with a total return of 41.3%, while the FTSE Nareit Equity REITs index rose 43.2%.

Throughout the latter part of 2020 and through 2021, new businesses have been forming rapidly, especially in the retail sector.

The year ahead is likely to see further improvement in commercial real estate markets as the economy continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are the top ten developments to follow.

REITs and publicly-listed real estate around the world were hit hard by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but have generally rebounded strongly.

Early indications from the past two quarters suggest REITs are likely to perform well if we enter into a sustained inflationary environment.

Year-to-date total returns for All Equity REITs stands at 30.1% and 32.6% for Equity REITs.