The State Of REITs: November 2025 Edition

REIT Sector Performance - The REIT sector experienced a decline of -4.03% in October, resulting in a year-to-date return of -4.69% for the average REIT, significantly underperforming the broader market indices such as NASDAQ (+4.7%), Dow Jones (+2.6%), and S&P 500 (+2.3%) [1] - The Vanguard Real Estate ETF (VNQ) had a less severe decline of -2.45% in October but has outperformed year-to-date with a return of +2.98% [1] - The spread between the 2026 FFO multiples of large cap REITs (16x) and small cap REITs (12.7x) widened, indicating that investors are paying 26% more for each dollar of FFO from large cap REITs compared to small cap REITs [1] Property Type Performance - In October, micro cap REITs led the sector with the smallest average decline of -2.81%, followed by mid caps (-3.11%), large caps (-4.45%), and small caps (-5.05%) [3] - 14 out of 18 property types averaged negative returns in October, with only 22.22% of property types achieving a positive total return [5] - Office properties had the worst performance at -12.74%, while Hotels (+3.82%) and Data Centers (+2.53%) were the best performers [5][6] Year-to-Date Performance - Year-to-date through October 2025, Office properties (-16.87%), Single Family Housing (-14.94%), and Land (-14.91%) have underperformed, while Health Care (+19.74%) has significantly outperformed [7] - The average P/FFO for the REIT sector declined from 14.1x to 13.5x during October, with 22.2% of property types experiencing multiple expansion [8] Individual Securities - Sotherly Hotels (SOHO) saw a significant increase of +165.00% on October 27th due to an acquisition announcement, with shareholders set to receive $2.25/share, a 152.7% premium [10] - Office Properties Income Trust (OPI) faced a dramatic decline of -88.76% ahead of its delisting and subsequently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with a year-to-date return of -96.15% [11] Dividend Yield - High dividend yields are a key attraction for investors in the REIT sector, with many REITs trading below their NAV, leading to attractive yields despite potential risks [15]