Nareit Staff

The total economic contribution of U.S. REITs in 2014, the most recent year of complete information, was an estimated 1.8 million full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs and $107.5 billion of labor income.

REITs continued to offer strong dividend yields at the end of 2016’s first quarter. The dividend yield of the FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index was 4.19 percent on March 31, the yield of the FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs Index was 3.76 percent, and the yield of the FTSE NAREIT Mortgage REITs Index was 11.83 percent.

Nationwide commercial property values rose 3.3 percent in the first quarter of 2016, as measured by the FTSE NAREIT PureProperty® Index Series. Property values rose 5.6 percent in March, which more than made up for a weak January and tepid February. 

Free Standing Retail REITs, a property segment made up primarily of REITs that lease properties on a triple net lease basis, delivered an 18.69 percent total return in the first quarter of 2016, more than three times the gain of the FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs Index.

Equity REITs significantly outperformed the broader equity market in March and the first quarter of 2016. The total return of the FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index, the broadest benchmark of the U.S. REIT market including both Equity and Mortgage REITs, was 9.99 percent in March and 5.86 percent in the first quarter.

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REITs provide diversification to investment portfolios because an investment in REITs is an investment in commercial real estate – a different asset class from other stocks and bonds. While returns of other stocks generally follow the business cycle, REIT returns follow the real estate market cycle. 

The stock exchange-listed U.S. REIT industry delivered double-digit increases in operating performance, measured by Funds From Operations (FFO) and Net Operating Income (NOI), as well as dividends paid to shareholders in calendar 2015 and the year’s fourth quarter compared to the same periods in 2014, according to NAREIT’s Total REIT Industry Tracker Series.

Investment real estate values grew by +0.44% percent during February 2016 according to the FTSE NAREIT PureProperty® Index Series, which provides the earliest measurement of changes in the market values of properties held by REITs for investment purposes.

Free-Standing Retail REITs were the top performing segment of the stock exchange-listed U.S. REIT industry in the first two months of 2016. The segment, which primarily consists of triple net lease REITs, delivered an 11.23 percent total return.

Total returns of stock exchange-listed U.S. REITs fell in the first two months of 2016, but still outperformed the broader equity market. The FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index, the broadest benchmark of the listed U.S. REIT industry, including both Equity and Mortgage REITs, declined 3.76 percent in the year through February 29. In comparison, the S&P 500 Index fell 5.09 percent in the same period, and the S&P Composite 1500 which, like the REIT market, includes large-, mid-, and small-cap stocks, fell 5.04 percent.