REITs beating the market
U.S. equity REITs have outpaced the S&P: the FTSE Nareit All Equity REIT Index was up ~10.5% through February, driven by 6.3% NOI growth and 90%+ occupancy across retail, industrial and apartments REIT outperformance sector stats. Data‑center REITs are a standout, up ~22% YTD, and analysts note overall sector leverage is relatively low at ~36%, which is supporting valuations even as apartments and office face regional headwinds data center jump.
Same‑store net operating income climbed 3.7% year‑over‑year in the tracker, showing that property-level cash flow gains—not just one‑off sales—are lifting operating results. (reit.com) Public REIT occupancy remains concentrated at the top of the market: retail averaged 96.9%, apartments 95.7% and industrial 94.5%, while office lagged at 85.3%. (publicnow.com) Balance sheets show longer, cheaper financing: REITs reported a 6.0‑year weighted average term to maturity, a 4.1% weighted average interest rate on total debt, and about 89.4% of debt locked at fixed rates. (reit.com) The sector’s rally was concentrated in February, when the FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs Index posted a 7.5% total return for the month while broad U.S. market gauges fell roughly 0.5% in February. (reit.com) Data‑center names led the rebound at the sector level, with industry summaries showing roughly a 22% gain YTD and top operators posting stronger individual rallies—Equinix up about 25% YTD and Digital Realty up roughly 17% YTD in recent performance tallies. (therealdeal.com) Sector nuances are driving dispersion: professionally managed apartment asking rents fell 0.6% year‑over‑year in Q4 2025, according to Harvard’s housing report, and multiple industry outlooks flag uneven, regionally driven office recoveries and elevated vacancy/conversion pipelines. (jchs.harvard.edu)
