Market Analysis & Research

In 2021, REITs outperformed the S&P 500 by 12.6 percentage points with an annual return of 41.3%.

The FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs index performed strongly in 2021, with a total return of 41.3%, while the FTSE Nareit Equity REITs index rose 43.2%.

Throughout the latter part of 2020 and through 2021, new businesses have been forming rapidly, especially in the retail sector.

The year ahead is likely to see further improvement in commercial real estate markets as the economy continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are the top ten developments to follow.

All property sectors met or exceeded their prior week’s performance as REITs posted their strongest weekly performance since Oct. 15.

REITs and publicly-listed real estate around the world were hit hard by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but have generally rebounded strongly.

Early indications from the past two quarters suggest REITs are likely to perform well if we enter into a sustained inflationary environment.

Year-to-date total returns for All Equity REITs stands at 30.1% and 32.6% for Equity REITs.

“It's clear there's outperformance in the REIT sector,” said Mariya Letdin, associate professor of real estate at Florida State University’s College of Business on a recent webinar hosted by Nareit.

The FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs Index was down 1.3% for the week, a more modest decline than the 2.3% drop in the Russell 1000.

Year-to-date total returns for All Equity REITs stands at 31.9% and 35.2% for Equity REITs.

EY’s latest REIT Economic Contributions report estimates REITs supported 2.93 million full time equivalent jobs in the U.S in 2020, producing $197.0 billion in labor income.