CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA—At-the-market fundraising by US equity REITs jumped 318% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2014, says SNL Financial, headquartered here. The $1.73-billion quarterly tally, which also represented a 44% increase over Q3, also marked the continuation of a trend: the amounts raised through ATM programs increased each quarter last year.

Five of the 32 REITs that completed issuances from ATM programs during Q4 raised more than $100 million apiece. Leading the way was Ventas Inc., which raised $246 million as of Dec. 31. That accounted for well over one-third of the $536 million VTR raised through ATM offerings in '14, but the healthcare REIT recently announced that it doesn't currently plan to issue additional shares through the program.

Next up was Spirit Realty Capital, which accounted for nearly all of its 12-month ATM tally of $163.8 million in Q4. The $147.5-million quarterly tally has since been followed up with an additional $80 million in ATM fundraising, says SNL.

SL Green Realty Corp. and Prologis Inc. were nearly tied with just over $142 million each, SLG raising just $500,000 more in ATM offerings during Q4 than did PLD. Completing the top five was Sabra Health Care REIT, which raised $123.5 million during Q4.

Two other metrics cited by SNL incorporate both larger and smaller numbers. Although the 32 REITs that completed ATM programs during Q4 was slightly smaller than the 35 of Q3, the dollar amount of each program increased 58% on average to $54.1 million.

Similarly, 10 equity REITs have announced new ATM programs thus far this year, off from 12 that began such programs during the year-ago period. However, total program size is up substantially: $4.21 billion across the 10 programs, up 66% from the $2.53 billion announced during the same period the year prior.