Institutional real estate investment returns recorded a small increase in the fourth quarter over the previous quarter, according to the NCREIF Property Index (NPI), published by the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF). While direct property investments saw an uptick, fund investments saw a slight decline. The NCREIF Open-end Diversified Core Index (ODCE), comprising 18 open-end core funds with $90.4 billion of net real estate assets, came in slightly below its returns in third quarter 2012 and fourth quarter 2011.
In fourth quarter 2012, NPI recorded a 2.54 percent return, including a 1.41 percent income return and a 1.13 percent capital appreciation return. This marks a slight increase from the third quarter’s 2.34 percent return but is a decline from the 2.96 percent return in the fourth quarter 2011. Returns in the fourth quarter were above the long-run average of 2.2 percent and the 10-year average of 2.1 percent. During the past
