Why are REITs so expensive?
During periods of economic growth, REIT prices tend to rise along with interest rates. The reason is that a growing economy increases the value of REITs because the value of their underlying real estate assets increases.
While higher rates negatively impacted nearly every sector of the economy in 2022 and most of 2023, real estate was hit especially hard. Rising interest rates hurt not only the value of REITs' property holdings but also the cost of debt to finance those properties or even refinance already-owned assets.
REITs' average return
Return a minimum of 90% of taxable income in the form of shareholder dividends each year. This is a big draw for investor interest in REITs. Invest at least 75% of total assets in real estate or cash.
A lot of REIT investors focus too way much on the dividend yield. They think that a high dividend yield implies that a REIT is cheap and a good investment opportunity. In reality, it is often the opposite, and the dividend does not say much, if anything, about the valuation of a REIT.
Risks of investing in REITs include higher dividend taxes, sensitivity to interest rates, and exposure to specific property trends.
Answer: Because REIT prices are forward-looking and front-run future pain, while the market prices of real estate properties themselves lag real-time increases in interest rates and economic weakness.
Publicly traded REITs have the particular risk of losing value as interest rates rise, which typically sends investment capital into bonds.
Compared to other investments such as stocks and bonds, REITs are subject to various risk factors that affect the investor's returns. Some of the main risk factors associated with REITs include leverage risk, liquidity risk, and market risk.
Key Points. REITs have outperformed stocks on 20-to-50-year horizons. Most REITs are less volatile than the S&P 500, with some only half as volatile as the market at large.
Direct real estate investments may be more expensive upfront but give investors increased control and flexibility. Both real estate and REITs can help investors hedge inflation and market downturn risks. Both can also be a source of regular cash flow, though REITs are a much more passive investment than real estate.
Do billionaires invest in REITs?
An eye-popping yield likely inspired Jeff Yass of Susquehanna to buy 1.4 million shares of AGNC in the third quarter. Yass isn't the only billionaire placing bets on this mortgage REIT. John Overdeck and David Siegel of Two Sigma Investments scooped up 1.2 million shares.
At that rate of return, a monthly investment of $300 in REITs would grow into $1 million in about 30 years. If you invested more money into REITs or those producing a higher average annual return, you could become a millionaire even faster.
Since they aren't publicly available and don't register with the SEC, it's difficult to pinpoint specific investment minimums. However, investment firm Edward Jones says minimum investments for private REITs can range from $1,000 to $50,000.
REITs historically perform well during and after recessions | Pensions & Investments.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of buying REIT shares rather than rental properties is simplicity. REIT investing allows for sharing in value appreciation and rental income without being involved in the hassle of actually buying, managing and selling property. Diversification is another benefit.
Over a 15-year period, according to Cohen & Steers, actively managed REIT investors realized an annualized 10.6% return. Of the other active strategies, opportunistic real estate funds placed second, at 9.8%. Core and value-added funds had average annualized returns of 6.5% and 5.6%, respectively, over 15 years.
REIT Stock Performance and the Interest Rate Environment
Over longer periods, there has generally been a positive association between periods of rising rates and REIT returns. This is because rising rates generally reflect improvement in the underlying fundamentals.
REITs. When interest rates are falling, dependable, regular income investments become harder to find. This benefits high-quality real estate investment trusts, or REITs. Strictly speaking, REITs are not fixed-income securities; their dividends are not predetermined but are based on income generated from real estate.
But since REITs are invested in property, there's more protection against the horror show of having shares crash to $0. By law, 75% of a REITs asset must be invested in real estate. The market value of the property owned by the REIT offers a bit of protection, as long as the value of the property doesn't go to zero.
Since most non-traded REITs are illiquid, there are often restrictions to redeeming and selling shares. While a REIT is still open to public investors, investors may be able to sell their shares back to the REIT. However, this sale usually comes at a discount; leaving only about 70% to 95% of the original value.
How do you tell if a REIT is overvalued?
Net Asset Value (NAV) is associated with the value of its underlying real estate assets, minus by the value of its liabilities. It is frequently calculated and compared to Mark to Market, this ratio gives an indication of whether the REIT is currently overvalued or undervalued with respect to its intrinsic value.
If a REIT fails to meet the 95-percent or 75-percent gross income tests but meets the requirements set forth in IRC § 856(c)(6), the REIT does not lose its REIT status but instead pays the tax imposed by IRC § 857(b)(5).
The majority of REIT dividends are taxed as ordinary income up to the maximum rate of 37% (returning to 39.6% in 2026), plus a separate 3.8% surtax on investment income. Taxpayers may also generally deduct 20% of the combined qualified business income amount which includes Qualified REIT Dividends through Dec.
Medical Properties Trust, Iron Mountain, and VICI Properties all have well-covered payout ratios and are expected to increase revenue in the coming years. These three high-dividend REITs should provide long-term income and price growth for investors.
Therefore, if rates begin to rise then REIT cash flows will decline at a time when discount rates are rising. They fear the end result will be capital losses that offset the higher distribution yield and result in negative total returns.
