CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA—The pace of REIT fundraising continues to lag 2013 figures, according to data from SNL Financial. The locally based firm reports that equity REITs domestically had raised $51.09 billion in capital year-to-date as of Oct. 17, trailing the $55.53 billion they garnered during the same period the year prior. That's a similar story to what GlobeSt.com reported last month, when REITs' YTD tally of $44.86 billion was nearly $1.6 billion smaller than a year earlier.

Retail REITs were leading the way with fundraising when GlobeSt.com reported SNL data five weeks ago, and their prominent position hasn't changed since then. YTD, retail investment trusts had raised $11.01 billion, followed by specialty REITs and health care REITs with $9.93 billion and $8.98 billion raised, respectively.

Debt continues to be the capital-raising mechanism of choice for REITs this year, with senior debt offerings accounting for nearly two-thirds of the YTD total at $32.12 billion. Capital raised via common equity through Oct. 17 amounted to $16.86 billion, while preferred equity offerings raised $2.11 billion. During the same period in '13, REITs had raised $27.36 billion from common equity offerings, $23.54 billion from senior debt issuances and $4.63 billion from preferred equity offerings.

SNL says that US equity REITs completed 11 common equity offerings between Sept. 27 and Oct. 17, raising an aggregate of slightly more than $694 million. Sabra Health Care REIT brought in a total of $145.5 million from a single offering that was completed Sept. 29, with CubeSmart not far behind with a $144.5-million common equity offering that it completed on Oct. 14, along $122.8 million in at-the-market offerings. Next was STAG Industrial, which brought in approximately $134.1 million from an offering it closed on Oct. 15, and also garnered $63.3 million from ATM offerings.

The YTD champion for equity offerings in the REIT space has been American Realty Capital Properties, on the strength of an offering that closed on May 21 with $1.66 billion raised. More recently, Health Care REIT raised $1.14 billion from an equity offering that was completed on Sept. 12.

There were fewer senior debt offerings from REITs between Sept. 27 and Oct. 17, but the four that were made brought in about twice as much as the 11 equity offerings. Led by Prologis with a $755.9-million offering that the industrial REIT completed on Oct. 1, REITs brought in a total of $1.38 billion from senior debt offerings during a three-week period. Prologis plans to use proceeds from that offering for acquisitions and development in Europe, as well as general corporate purposes.

After Prologis, the second-highest fundraise via debt was amassed by CBL & Associates Properties Inc., which completed a single senior debt offering on Oct. 1 at $300 million.  Next came Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust, which garnered $172.5 million though a single senior debt offering, completed Oct. 7.

In keeping with the lagging pace set by preferred equity offerings thus far in 2014, only one equity REIT, Inland Real Estate Corp., completed such an offering between Sept. 27 and Oct. 10. That issue brought in $100 million, and was completed on Oct. 10.