Was 2015 a good year or a bad year for REITs? Well, that depends on whether their performance is being compared with private real estate or the broader equity market. The FTSE NAREIT Equity REIT Index had a total return of 3.2 percent in 2015. That puts REITs ahead of the pack when it comes to other stocks but behind private real estate returns.

“In a year of equity market turmoil, REITs demonstrated why they are an essential, all-season allocation in diversified investment portfolios. Market uncertainty is likely to continue in 2016, and it will be important for investors to maintain exposure across all major asset classes, including REIT-based real estate investment, to earn solid, long-run returns,” said NAREIT president and CEO Steven Wechsler in a statement.

It is true the 2015 equity REIT return exceeds the 1.4 percent return by the S&P 500 Index in 2015, representing broader market large-cap stocks, or the –4.4 percent return of the Russell 2000 Index,