CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA-US equity REITs raised $41.09 billion year-to-date through September 28, according to SNL. That is $7.54 billion more than was raised in the same period in 2011. REIT’s stock market performance is also trending well for the year, according to separate statistics from NAREIT. However the September numbers were a bit of a disappointment and they followed lackluster performance in August.

REITs have been on a capital-raising roll this year, as SNL figures have shown. As of Sept. 28, common equity deals accounted for $18.09 billion of gross capital offerings, senior debt totaled $14.95 billion and preferred equity totaled $8.06 billion. In the prior-year period, common equity offerings totaled $19.65 billion, senior debt reached $10.3 billion and preferred equity accounted for $3.56 billion. By sector, health care REITs have raised the most capital as of Sept. 28, SNL says, with $9.59 billion. Retail ranked number two, with $8.61 billion.

REITs’ stock performance for September was less robust, meanwhile—and followed an underperforming month for August as well. NAREIT notes that REITs lagged behind the broader stock market in September and were down 0.89%, while the S&P was up 2.58%. The FTSE NAREIT US Real Estate Index showed that equity REITs were down 1.23% and all REITs were down by 0.89%.

In a video clip posted to the NAREIT site, Brad Case, NAREIT’s senior vice president of research and industry, points to the industry’s record during bull cycles, which he says REITs are currently in. “What we've seen historically is that REITs have had one down month for every two up months, so it’s normal to have negative months in a bull market.”

NAREIT’s year-to-date figures have not been released yet, but figures from August show stock performance is still holding up. For the first eight months of the year, the FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index was up 18.62% and the FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs Index was up 17.54%, compared to the S&P 500’s gain of 13.51%.