CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA—The pace of REITfundraising continues to lag 2013 figures, according to data fromSNL Financial. The locally based firm reports thatequity REITs domestically had raised $51.09 billion in capitalyear-to-date as of Oct. 17, trailing the $55.53 billion theygarnered during the same period the year prior. That's a similarstory to what GlobeSt.com reported last month, when REITs' YTDtally of $44.86 billion was nearly $1.6 billion smaller than a yearearlier.

Retail REITs were leading the way with fundraising whenGlobeSt.com reported SNL data five weeks ago, and their prominentposition hasn't changed since then. YTD, retail investment trustshad raised $11.01 billion, followed by specialty REITs and healthcare REITs with $9.93 billion and $8.98 billion raised,respectively.

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