Manufactured homes were the REIT industry's best performers in the first half of 2015 with a 3.75% return, followed by self-storage with a 3.72% total return, according to the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts.
Apartments were up 0.82% in the first half of the year with the office sector down 5.25%, retail down 7.24%, and industrial falling 11.33%. For mortgage REITs, the commercial financing sector was down 1.70%, and the home financing sector fell 6.12%.
The total return of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index declined 1.91% (in U.S. dollars) for the first half of 2015 and delivered a dividend yield of 3.60% at the end of June. Some of the index's regional sectors, however, produced gains in the first half.
The FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Middle East/Africa Index pulled out the best performance of any region, with a total return of 5.75% for the year through June, while Asia/Pacific and Europe delivered gains of 3.27% and 2.32%, respectively. The total return of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Americas region fell 6.44% in the year's first half.
The global index includes 471 companies from around the world with a combined equity market capitalization of $1.4 trillion, nearly three-quarters of which is from REITs. Thirty-one countries in addition to the United States have enacted REIT legislation to foster the development of their commercial real estate markets and facilitate investment in real estate securities.
