Listed U.S. REITs returned +7.53% during January 2015 according to the FTSE NAREIT All REIT Index, which measures the total returns (stock price appreciation plus dividend payments) of all REITs traded on major stock exchanges in the U.S. In contrast, the broad U.S. stock market suffered a decline at -1.47% according to the Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index. Small-cap value stocks—sometimes mistakenly considered similar to REITs—did even worse at -2.11% according to the Russell 2000 Value Index, while large-cap stocks also underperformed at -1.73% according to the S&P 500 Index.
