U.S. REITs raised $16.6 billion from secondary debt and equity offerings in the second quarter of 2024. Of that total, $12.5 billion came from debt and $4.1 billion came from common and preferred equity offerings. While there were no IPOs during the second quarter, July saw the largest IPO of any company in 2024 and the largest REIT IPO ever in Lineage’s $5.1 billion offering, which includes overallotment shares. Nareit’s historical capital offerings summary can be found here.
During the second quarter, one merger was completed with Blackstone acquiring Apartment Income REIT for $9.2 billion. In 2023, $44 billion in acquisitions of publicly traded U.S. REITs was announced. Of the $272 billion in public REIT mergers and acquisitions from 2019 to 2024, over 60% of the transaction value represents deals between listed REITs in the same property sector.
REITs Issued Less Equity, More Debt in Q2
Non-ATM equity issuance totaled $4.2 billion, with $3.6 billion from common equity and $571 million from preferred equity in the second quarter of 2024. Year-to-date, $8.1 billion has been raised, with $7.3 billion coming from common equity offerings and $781 million coming from preferred equity offerings. REITs raised $4.1 billion at-the-market in the first quarter of 2024 and $19.6 billion in all of 2023.
Debt issuance totaled $12.5 billion raised at the secondary market in the second quarter of 2024, with a year-to-date total of $25.4 billion. In the second quarter of 2023, REITs raised $9.9 billion through secondary debt offerings. In the second quarter of 2024, the average yield to maturity for REIT unsecured debt offerings was 4.5%, down from 5.7% in the first quarter of 2024.
Mergers & Acquisitions Activity Slowed in First Half of 2024
In 2024, one deal has been announced and completed, with a value of $9.2 billion. In 2023, 11 deals to acquire publicly listed REITs were announced, with a total deal value of $44 billion and 95% of the value reflecting acquisitions by listed REITs. In 2022, 10 deals to acquire publicly listed U.S. REITs were announced, representing a total deal value of $83 billion. Since the beginning of 2021, deals for 37 REITs have been announced or completed. Of the $225 billion represented by these acquisitions, 81% is attributed to acquisitions by other public REITs.
Retail, Industrial, and Data Centers Led Acquisitions
REITs posted $8.0 billion in property acquisitions and $7.3 billion in dispositions in 2024:Q1, which is the more recent data available. This is in comparison to 2023, during which REITs posted $70.7 billion in acquisitions and $25.7 billion in dispositions. In 2024:Q1, retail, industrial, and data centers led with acquisitions of $3.4 billion, $1.2 billion, and $1.0 billion, respectively. In 2023:Q1 industrial, gaming, and retail led with respective acquisitions of $13.0 billion, $3.6 billion, and $2.9 billion. See Nareit’s T-Tracker for further details.
