Equity REIT Returns Trail S&P 500 for ‘16

NAREIT’s Wechsler says equity REITs faced headwinds as 2016 progressed.

WASHINGTON, DC—The total return of the US equity REIT market fell short of the S&P 500’s annual gain over the past year, while mortgage REITs nearly doubled the total return of the broader equity market, NAREIT said Monday. More recently, equity REITs pushed ahead of the S&P 500. “Equity REITs delivered strong results in the first half of 2016, but faced headwinds, in part from investor concerns about rising interest rates, in the second half,” says Steven A. Wechsler, NAREIT’s president and CEO.

For the year that ended Dec. 31, the FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs Index had an 8.63% total return, compared with the S&P 500’s 11.96%. The FTSE NAREIT Mortgage REITs Index posted an annual return of 22.85% for the same time period, while the All REITS index was up 9.28% for the year.