The Market Commentary blog on reit.com presents analysis of the macro- and micro-economic fundamentals impacting the REIT and commercial real estate industry. The Nareit economics team offers their commentary on the state of the market, the outlook for commercial real estate and breaking macroeconomic news. The opinions set forth here are solely those of its author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Nareit or its membership.
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The REIT-Stock Correlation Has NOT “Spiked to One” During Market Crises
It is often said that “correlations spike to one during a crisis,” but REIT-stock correlations have actually been lower during the worst stock market downturns in history, reinforcing the case for REITs as a portfolio diversifier even during crises.
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A Strong Economy Boosts Commercial Real Estate in Q2
The economy is enjoying above-trend growth, with some boost from last year’s tax cuts, which supports demand for nearly all types of commercial real estate.
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What Are the Structural Factors That Boost Long-Term REIT Performance?
REITs have provided investors solid returns over the years, despite short-term zigs and zags along the way, in part because of structural features of the REIT model.
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Inflation Protection from REITs: Constructing a Diversified Inflation-Protecting Portfolio
How to construct an inflation-protecting portfolio without exposing yourself to the risk of guessing wrong about an increase the inflation rate.
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Inflation Protection from REITs: Don’t Jump Out of the Frying Pan Into the Fire
Investors who depend on commodity investments to protect against inflation risk negative returns if inflation doesn’t meet their expectations, whereas REITs have historically provided strong returns in both high-inflation and low-inflation environments.
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Inflation Protection from REITs: Solving a Growing Problem
Ask anybody which investments “hedge” against inflation, and real estate is one of the three that pretty much everybody will identify, along with commodities and inflation-linked bonds
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REITs Rally on Interest Rate Relief
REITs have outperformed the S&P 500 in recent months, with a cumulative total return of 14.6 percent since their low point in early February.
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REIT M&A in the Spotlight
Mergers and acquisitions involving REITs have been in the spotlight in recent months. The flurry of proposed deals announced in just the first half of this year put the market on pace to set a new record for merger activity in 2018.
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Commercial Property Prices Continue Steady Gains
Commercial property prices in April were 9.1 percent higher than one year earlier, according to the CoStar Commercial Repeat Sales Index
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Sharpe Ratios for REITs by Property Type
REIT diversification benefits come not merely from their low correlations to other assets but also from their historically strong risk-adjusted returns.
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REIT Price Multiples Signal Attractive Investment Opportunities
Current REIT fundamentals and equity market conditions suggest that investing in REITs will likely continue to have such benefits in the period ahead.
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Return Correlations between REITs and the Broad Stock Market by Property Type
REIT returns generally have low correlations with returns from the broad stock market. Some REIT property sectors—including Health Care, Self Storage, Residential, Infrastructure, and Data Centers—seem to be especially defensive with average correlations of 65 percent or less even during periods encompassing market crises.