The big news in 2017 for REIT investors is how shares in the high-dividend paying stocks underperformed compared to the broad stock market. According to NAREIT, “during 2017 the REIT industry had generated total returns of 9.27% according to the FTSE Nareit All U.S. REITs Index. of Research at NAREIT, the “review and outlook” can be summarized in three statements:REITs during 2017 were overlooked and undervalued. As Dr. Case observed, the small-cap value segment is more like REITs than any other segment of the stock market is, so comparisons are natural. During 2017 REITs outperformed the Russell 2000 Value Index (9.27% vs 7.84% year-to-date) with substantially less volatility (11.7% vs 15.9% as of the end of December).

Source: Forbes January 11, 2018 17:37 UTC