Market Commentary

Broader markets also fell, with a decline of 2.2% on both the Russell 1000 and the S&P 500.

The REIT underweight for generalist funds benchmarked against the S&P 500 declined from 114 basis points in 2016Q4 to just 62 basis points as of 2021Q2.

Multiple studies conducted by different research firms have come to similar conclusions, finding that the optimal portfolio allocation to REITs may be between 5% and 15%.

REITs edged lower last week, with a total return of -1.0% on the FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs Index.

REITs edged narrowly lower for the week ended Sept. 17th, but outpaced other equities.

REITs remain well into positive territory for 2021, however, with year-to-date returns of 26.6% on the All Equity REITs Index.

Over the past 10 years, we have seen dramatic changes in the composition of REIT equity market capitalization.

Acquisition activity in the second quarter was robust across most property sectors.

Last week’s increase brought the year-to-date return to 32.0%. 

Total payroll employment rose 235,000 in August, the slowest since last January and far behind the monthly average of 636,000 between January and July.

REITs have increased seven out of the past eight weeks.

Data centers, infrastructure, and self storage REIT sectors all had weekly returns exceeding 2.0%.