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How resilient are REITs to a pandemic? The COVID-19 effect

Author

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  • Omokolade Akinsomi

Abstract

Purpose - Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are historically considered as attractive assets to investors particularly as the underlying assets are properties which are income-producing. REITs also distribute substantial amount of profits as dividends to shareholders.Stephen and Simon (2005)find that REITs in a mixed asset portfolio of stocks and bonds enhance returns and reduce risk. This paper examines the role a pandemic (COVID-19) plays in the performance of global REITs index and REIT sectors. Design/methodology/approach - To examine the effects of COVID-19 on REITs, the year-to-date (YTD) returns of global returns index and REITs sectors in the United States are observed and a comparative analysis is employed from January 2020 to May 2020. Findings - Based on a three-month return ending 22 May 2020, FTSE EPRA NAREIT index is the biggest loser at −31.83% whilst the FTSE EPRA Asia–Pacific index has the lowest loss at −23.20%. The author examines YTD returns which show disparities on the effect of COVID-19 on REIT sectors. The US market is examined; most REIT sectors suffered big losses as at April 2020; the analysis reveals YTD returns for the top three REIT sector losers are lodging/resort REITs (−45.81%), retail REITs (−41.16%) and office REITs (−22.63%). Data centre REITs are the only sector REITs with positive returns at 17.66%. Practical implications - Most sector REITs during the pandemic have lost considerable value based on YTD returns as at May 2020. Flight to quality is expected during this uncertain period to REITs such as data REITs, grocery-anchored REITs and storage REITs. These REITs are not as adversely affected by COVID-19 in comparison to other REITs. Originality/value - This paper identified the impact of COVID-19 on the performance of global REITs and US sector REITs during the periods from January 2020 to May 2020.

Suggested Citation

  • Omokolade Akinsomi, 2020. "How resilient are REITs to a pandemic? The COVID-19 effect," Journal of Property Investment & Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 39(1), pages 19-24, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:jpifpp:jpif-06-2020-0065
    DOI: 10.1108/JPIF-06-2020-0065
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Matteo Bonato & Oguzhan Cepni & Rangan Gupta & Christian Pierdzioch, 2022. "Forecasting realized volatility of international REITs: The role of realized skewness and realized kurtosis," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(2), pages 303-315, March.
    2. Rehman, Mobeen Ur & Shahzad, Syed Jawad Hussain & Ahmad, Nasir & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2022. "Dependence dynamics of US REITs," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. NEIFAR, MALIKA & HACHICHA, Fatma, 2022. "GFH validity for Canada, UK, and Suisse stock markets: Evidence ‎from univariate and panel ARDL models," MPRA Paper 114613, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Daniel Ibrahim Dabara & Job Taiwo Gbadegesin & Abdul-Rasheed Amidu & Tunbosun Biodun Oyedokun & Augustina Chiwuzie, 2021. "Do REITs Hedge against Inflation? Evidence from an African Emerging Market," AfRES 2021-033, African Real Estate Society (AfRES).
    5. Roddy Allan & Ervi Liusman & Teddy Lu & Desmond Tsang, 2021. "The COVID-19 Pandemic and Commercial Property Rent Dynamics," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-24, August.
    6. Samet Gunay & Walid Bakry & Somar Al-Mohamad, 2021. "The Australian Stock Market’s Reaction to the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Black Summer Bushfires: A Sectoral Analysis," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-19, April.
    7. Xiaoling Chu & Chiuling Lu & Desmond Tsang, 2021. "Geographic Scope and Real Estate Firm Performance during the COVID-19 Pandemic," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-16, July.
    8. Thomas Richter, 2022. "Trading Activity in Public Real Estate Markets," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-12, August.
    9. Gholipour, Hassan F. & Tajaddini, Reza & Farzanegan, Mohammad Reza & Yam, Sharon, 2021. "Responses of REITs index and commercial property prices to economic uncertainties: A VAR analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    10. Salisu, Afees A. & Gupta, Rangan & Bouri, Elie, 2023. "Testing the forecasting power of global economic conditions for the volatility of international REITs using a GARCH-MIDAS approach," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 303-314.
    11. Sercan Demiralay & Erhan Kilincarslan, 2024. "Uncertainty Measures and Sector-Specific REITs in a Regime-Switching Environment," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 69(3), pages 545-584, October.
    12. Ololade Periola-Fatunsin & Johnson A. Oliyide & Ismail O. Fasanya, 2021. "Uncertainty Due to Pandemic and the Volatility Connectedness Among Asian REITs Market," Asian Economics Letters, Asia-Pacific Applied Economics Association, vol. 2(2), pages 1-5.
    13. Matteo Bonato & Oguzhan Cepni & Rangan Gupta & Christian Pierdzioch, 2020. "Uncertainty due to Infectious Diseases and Forecastability of the Realized Variance of US REITs: A Note," Working Papers 202099, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    14. Kwangwon Ahn & Hanwool Jang & Jinu Kim & Inug Ryu, 2024. "COVID-19 and REITs Crash: Predictability and Market Conditions," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 63(3), pages 1159-1172, March.

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