REITs rise 2.9% in July

U.S. REITs rose 2.9 percent in July, according to the FTSE Nareit Equity REITs Index, for the second consecutive month of price increases. The rise came as part of a broader market movement. The S&P 500 index advanced 3.2 percent in July, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 3.4 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose nearly 4.1 percent.

The best performance was recorded by the office sector, which rose 13.3 percent in July. Year-to-date, office REITs are down 5.0 percent. Although the future of the office sector remains uncertain, public REITs have repriced much faster than private real estate and may provide an entry point for investors.

The biggest drop was seen in the self-storage sector, which fell 4.1 percent in July. Public Storage agreed to buy Simply Storage from Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust for $2.2 billion, and