Nareit Staff

The total return of the U.S. Equity REIT market fell short of the S&P 500’s gain in 2016, while Mortgage REITs nearly doubled the total return of the broader equity market.

Investors focused on income continued to find much to like in the REIT market in November.  The FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index had a dividend yield of 4.33 percent on November 30, the FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs Index had a dividend yield of 3.98 percent and the FTSE NAREIT Mortgage REITs Index had a dividend yield of 10.11 percent.  In comparison, the dividend yield of the S&P 500 on November 30 was 2.12 percent.

The Single Family Home property segment led the U.S. REIT market in the first 11 months of 2016 with a 28.34 percent total return.  Single Family Home REITs are benefitting from an environment in which many potential home buyers cannot meet today’s tighter lending standards.

REIT returns underperformed the broader equity market in November as investors concerned with rising interest rates shifted assets out of REITs and other income-oriented investments.  The shift occurred in spite of the fact that analyses by NAREIT and various investment organizations have shown that REITs typically perform well in periods of rising interest rates.

REIT dividend yields increased in October over the prior month, and six Equity REIT market segments had dividend yields of more than 4 percent in October.

Industrial was the top-performing Equity REIT market segment, up 26.71 percent in the first ten months of 2016.  The Industrial sector benefitted from the continuing growth of e-commerce.  Many online retailers and shippers rely on Industrial REITs’ logistics facilities for the distribution of their products.

New research from Wilshire Funds Management, sponsored by NAREIT and based on portfolio optimizations using 40 years of investment return data through 2015, showed that adding a range of high income-generating assets (including REITs) to a traditional retirement-stage portfolio could boost income returns by nearly 40 percent.