U.S. REITs outperformed the broader equity market in April, with All Equity REITs returning 6.33 percent versus the S&P 500 Index’s 1.93 percent, according to the FTSE NAREIT U.S. REIT Index.

Brad Case, senior vice president of research at the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), notes that the REIT market has outperformed the stock market in the first four months of the year.

For the 12 months ended April 30, the FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index was up 22.20 percent and the FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs Index was up 21.28 percent, compared with the S&P 500 Index’s gain of 16.89 percent.

Ken Weinberg, senior portfolio manager at CBRE Securities, says the strong fundamentals, growing yields, and increase in rents and occupancies across most property markets have driven investor interest in commercial real estate securities.

“It’s a great time to own commercial real estate,