Real estate investment trust

A real estate investment trust (REIT, pronounced "reet"[1]) is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of commercial real estate, including office and apartment buildings, studios, warehouses, hospitals, shopping centers, hotels and commercial forests.[2] Some REITs engage in financing real estate. REITs act as a bridge between the worlds of housing and urban development on one hand, and institutional investors and financial markets on the other. They are typically categorized into commercial REITs (C-REITs) and residential REITs (R-REITs), with the latter focusing on housing assets such as apartments and single-family homes.[3]

Most countries' laws on REITs entitle a real estate company to pay less in corporation tax and capital gains tax.[4] REITs have been criticised as enabling speculation on housing, and reducing housing affordability, without increasing finance for building.[5]

REITs can be publicly traded on major exchanges, publicly registered but non-listed, or private.[6][7] The two main types of REITs are equity REITs[8] and mortgage REITs (mREITs).[9] In November 2014, equity REITs were recognized as a distinct asset class[10] in the Global Industry Classification Standard by S&P Dow Jones Indices and MSCI. The key statistics to examine the financial position and operation of a REIT include net asset value (NAV), funds from operations (FFO), and adjusted funds from operations (AFFO).[11]

  1. ^ Malkiel, Burton G. (2018). A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing (completed revised and updated ed.). W. W. Norton & Company.
  2. ^ "Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)". 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  3. ^ Aalbers, Manuel; Taylor, J. Zac; Klingec, J. Tobias; Fernandezd, Rodrigo (2023). "In Real Estate Investment We Trust: State De-risking and the Ownership of Listed US and German Residential Real Estate Investment Trusts". Economic Geography. 99 (3): 312–335. doi:10.1080/00130095.2022.2155134.
  4. ^ E.g. Corporation Tax Act 2010 s 519 in the UK.
  5. ^ See A. O'Sullivan (2006), "Residential shut out fears for UK Reits played down after German move". CityWire.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference what was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Green, Richard K.; Rhea, Parker. "Listed and Non-Listed Reits: Exploring the Cost Difference" (PDF). USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. University of Southern California. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  8. ^ "Guide to Equity REITs". reit.com. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  9. ^ "Guide to Mortgage REITs". reit.com. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  10. ^ "Real Estate Slated for Eleventh Headline Sector in GICS®". reit.com. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  11. ^ "The Most Important Metrics for REIT Investing". Simply Safe Dividends. January 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2021.