A Nareit survey of August rent collections by REITs in the apartment, freestanding retail and shopping center segments of the property market continued to show the positive impact of the economic reopening, even as economic stimulus has waned.
The level of rents collected by apartment REITs was essentially unchanged from the collection level in July, in spite of the expiration of federal supplementary unemployment benefits. Apartment REITs responding to the survey reported collecting 96 percent of their typical pre-pandemic rents, compared with 95.3 percent in July. The level of apartment REIT rent collections has remained high and steady over the five months Nareit has conducted the survey.
The improvement in the shopping center segment in August was more notable. Shopping centers, whose rent collections were severely depressed by the crisis, reported collecting 80.1 percent of normal rents, up from 72.4 percent in July.
Freestanding retail REITs reported col
