Asia Pacific REITs Beat Broader Equities in First Quarter
by Jeroen Vreeker, Index Analyst for Global Property Research
April 7, 2021 – Asia Pacific REITs, as measured by the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index, closed the first quarter of 2021 with a 2.5% total return performance in USD terms. This followed a 1.9% gain in March. Taiwan was the only REIT market in Asia Pacific that fell in the month. The island’s REITs were down 0.9%.
HomeCo Daily Needs REIT in Australia was added to the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index, following the latest quarterly rebalancing of the index series.
Overall, the regional REITs outperformed the equity market, which returned 2.4% in Q1 2021 but fell 1% in March 2021. The table below shows the total return performances realised in the previous month and in the first quarter for the various currencies available for the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index.
| EUR | JPY | LOC | USD | |
| GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index | 5.2% | 5.7% | 4.3% | 1.9% |
| EUR | JPY | LOC | USD | |
| GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index | 6.7% | 9.7% | 6.4% | 2.5% |
Taking the sector perspective, Residential recorded the biggest win with a 4.3% gain. HealthCare fell 0.5% and retail was down 0.3%. The two sectors were the worst performers in March 2021.
| DIV | HCR | HOT | IND | OFF | OTH | RES | RET | |
| GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index | 2.3% | -0.5% | 0.1% | 3.4% | 1.9% | n/a | 4.3% | -0.3% |
The table below shows the total return performances realised in the first quarter for the various sectors available for the GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index.
| DIV | HCR | HOT | IND | OFF | OTH | RES | RET | |
| GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index | 3.5% | 0.2% | 8.9% | -1.1% | 5.2% | n/a | 5.8% | 2.3% |
The comprehensive GPR/APREA Composite REIT Index covered 176 Asia Pacific REITs with a combined free float market capitalisation of US$322.2 billion as at March 31, 2021. The index has climbed about 40% from US$229.3 billion a year ago.
