Nareit Staff

Stock exchange-listed REITs raised a total of $8.09 billion in public capital in January 2016, compared with $8.52 billion raised in January 2015. The bulk of that total was raised in 10 secondary debt offerings totaling $6.25 billion.

The Free-Standing Retail, Data Centers and Shopping Center property sectors led the overall REIT market in total returns in January. The six Free-Standing REITs delivered a 7.61 percent total return for the month; the six Data Center companies delivered a 3.79 percent total return; and the 18 Shopping Center REITs gained 2.99 percent.

REITs continued to reward income-seeking investors in the first month of 2016. At Jan. 31, the dividend yield of the FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index was 4.47 percent, and the dividend yield of the FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs Index was 4.00 percent. The FTSE NAREIT Mortgage REITs Index posted a dividend yield of 12.78 percent in January. In comparison, the Jan. 31 dividend yield of the S&P 500 was 2.34 percent.

Stock exchange-listed REITs raised a total of $59.29 billion in public capital in 2015, compared with $63.64 billion raised in 2014.  The FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index grew to 223 REITs with a combined equity market capitalization of $939 billion at year end 2015, up from 216 REITs with a combined market capitalization of $907 billion at the end of 2014. 

The Self-Storage and Residential property sectors led the overall REIT market in total returns in 2015. Self-Storage sector delivered a 40.65 percent total return for the year; Manufactured Homes delivered a 25.65 percent total return; and Apartments gained 16.45 percent.

REITs continued to reward income-seeking investors in 2015.  At December 31, the dividend yield of the FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index was 4.30 percent, and the dividend yield of the FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs Index was 3.85 percent.  The FTSE NAREIT Mortgage REITs Index posted a dividend yield of 12.15 percent at year-end.