REIT Rent Collections Stayed High in Q1

Despite its ongoing struggles, the office sector’s rent collection was higher in Q1 than in other points over the last year.

Rent collection across all categories of REITs filing first-quarter earnings was high in Q1, with levels in line with fourth-quarter numbers, according to new research released this week.

Data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence showed that net lease REIT Alpine Income Property Trust and ground lease-oriented Safehold collected all of their billed rents for Q1, while industrial REITs Prologis and Rexford Industrial Realty respectively collected 98.8% and 98.2% of Q1 rents.

The office sector continued to reel from pandemic-related impacts on their retail portfolios, S&P reported, though rent collection was higher in Q1 than in other points over the last year. SL Green collected 98% from its office tenants and 85% from its retail tenants for a total of 95.3%, while Brandywine Realty Trust collected 98.9% of rents billed in Q1.

On the shopping center side, SITE Centers Corp. reported a collection rate of 96%, up two percentage points from Q4.  Retail REIT rent collections have been volatile since early last year, though shopping centers bounced back in a big way during the fourth quarter, led by Kite Realty Group Trust and Tanger Factory Outlet Centers. Most retail REITs showed rent collection improvements from 89% to 95% during Q4, according to an earlier S&P Global analysis.

In the student housing sector, American Campus Communities Inc. collected 97.3% of rents, a number that was in line with Q4 figures.