PATH Act
December 2015: President Obama signs into law the PATH Act, which includes removing FIRPTA obstacles impeding non-U.S. investment in REITs and real estate, and the repeal of the punitive preferential dividend rule for SEC-listed REITs.
REITs Pass $1 Trillion Mark
June 2016: In June 2016, the equity market capitalization of publicly traded REITs passed the $1 trillion mark for the first time.
Real Estate Becomes News GICS Sector
August 2016: At the close of trading on Aug. 31, 2016, Real Estate became the 11th headline sector within the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS). S&P Dow Jones Indices and MSCI Inc. moved equity REITs and other listed real estate companies from the Financials Sector to the new Real Estate Sector.
Emerging Markets Added To Global Index
January 2009 FTSE, NAREIT and EPRA announce the addition of REITs and listed property companies in emerging markets to the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index.
Research Shows REITs Assist With Liability Relative Optimization
September 2008 Ibbotson Associates releases results of its pioneering research with respect to the benefits of including publicly traded REITs and property companies in long-term, diversified investment portfolios using liability relative optimization.
REITs Added To S&P Indexes
October 2001 Standard & Poor's opens its indexes to REITs. Equity Office Properties Trust is the first REIT named to the S&P 500 Index, and a month later Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) follows.
View a list of REITs in the S&P indexes.
EPRA Formed
October 1999 As a sign of the growing interest in publicly traded real estate, the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA) is formed. NAREIT and EPRA have consistently maintained a close working relationship in promoting the global expansion of publicly traded real estate and their member companies.
Visit EPRA's website.
REIT ETFs Hit The Market
June 2000 The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index Fund launches, becoming the first real estate exchange traded fund. Within less than a year, it is joined by the streetTRACKS Wilshire REIT Index Fund and iShares Cohen & Steers Realty Majors Index Fund. Today, there are more than 30 REIT ETFs.
Plum Creek Becomes First Timber REIT
1999 Plum Creek Timber Company becomes the first timber REIT. The company was acquired by fellow timber REIT Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY) in 2016.
Simon Property Goes Public
December 1993 Setting the stage for super-sized offerings to come, Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG) concludes what was then the biggest REIT IPO to date, raising $839.9 million. Simon has gone on to become one of the largest publicly traded real estate companies in the world.
Dedicated Real Estate Funds Developed
January 1985 The National Real Estate Stock Fund is formed as the first open-end mutual fund devoted to REITs and other real estate securities. Today, there are more than 200 dedicated real estate mutual funds tracked by Lipper. In 1986, Martin Cohen and Robert Steers found Cohen & Steers, which becomes the nation's largest REIT manager with more than $60 billion in assets under management, as of June 2017.
View a list of real estate mutual funds.
REIT Research Underway
August 1969 The first Wall Street research piece on REITs is published. The report is written by Michael Emmerman, an analyst at Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder Advisers, LLC at the behest of then-portfolio manager George Soros.
View a list of REIT research.