2016 was a great year for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS) representing specific property sectors, according to REIT.com. Looking at returns, the best performing REITS by sector in 2016 were:
- Industrial REITs: 30.7%;
- Single-Family REITs: 26.7%;
- Data Center REITs: 26.4%;
- Lodging REITs: 24.3%; and
- Mortgage REITs: 22.9%
However, the overall FTSE/NAREIT All REIT Index posted a total return of only 9.3% for the entire year, while the S&P 500 saw a total return of 12%.
In addition to the property indices representing the returns to unlevered property investments, the FTSE/NAREIT All REIT Index measures returns of diversified portfolios of unlevered properties in the Apartment, Health Care, Hotel, Industrial, Office and Retail sectors; for the East, Midwest, South and West regions of the United States; and for 11 region/property type combinations, and also includes equity indices measuring the investment returns to properties through the balance sheets of the REITs holding them.