REIT share prices rose for the third straight week, with the FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs Index posting a total return of 0.3% in the week ended July 23. Broader markets outpaced REITs last week, with a return of 2.2% on the Russell 1000. REITs still lead the broader market in year-to-date returns, with a 26.5% total return for the All Equity REITs Index compared to 17.8% for the Russell 1000.
Most property sectors were up last week, led by residential REITs, with a 1.5% return (and 40.4% year-to-date); followed by specialty REITs, with a 1.3% return (and an impressive 43.4% year-to-date). The largest decline was among industrial REITs, with a return of negative 1.0%; this sector, which has benefited from the expansion of digital communications for voice, data, and teleconferencing use during the pandemic, still has a total return this year of 25.0%.
mREITs were mixed. Home financing mREITs were down 0.7% in the week ended July 23, the fourth consecutive weekly decline. Commercial financing mREITs, in contrast, gained 1.3%.
