REITs fall nearly 3% in ‘red’ October

October was ugly for the stock market, which makes U.S. REITs’ drop last month of 2.97 percent, according to the FTSE Nareit Equity REITs Index, look pretty decent when compared with the broader market. The S&P 500 Index recorded a 6.94 percent decline in October.

Retail companies were among the strongest performers in the S&P 500 Index in October, as investors expect a strong holiday shopping season. Retail REITs also performed well, rising 0.30 percent in October, led by freestanding retail and regional mall REITs, which returned 4.26 percent and 1.02 percent, respectively.

Other outperforming REIT sectors were infrastructure (up 2.65 percent), self-storage (up 2.21 percent) and healthcare (up 1.75 percent). Every other REIT property sector declined in October. The biggest drops were among timber (down 16.08 percent), data centers (down 11.52 percent) and hotels (down 10.01 percent).