Can REITs lose money?
Any increase in the short-term interest rate eats into the profit—so if it doubled in our example above, there'd be no profit left. And if it goes up even higher, the REIT loses money. All of that makes mortgage REITs extremely volatile, and their dividends are also extremely unpredictable.
REITs closely follow the overall real estate market and are subject to much of the same risks, including fluctuations in property value, leasing occupancy, and geographic demand. Real estate is typically very sensitive to changes in interest rates, which can affect property values and occupancy demand.
What this means is that REITs are ideal borrowers for banks. They are exactly who they want to do business with because they know that the risk of a REIT bankruptcy is extremely low. Just look at the past. There have been very few REIT bankruptcies over the past 50+ years.
While there are many benefits of REITs, it is important to know that there can be potential risk involved if not done with a proper strategy. Market fluctuations, interest rate change, and the potential for declines in property values can impact the performance of REITs.
Typically, the upfront costs of investing in a REIT are low, while their risk-adjusted returns tend to be high. Because the healthcare industry is historically defensive during times of economic crisis, investing in a healthcare REIT can offer growth potential during a recession.
Nine Reasons Not to Invest in REITs
But, REITs are not risk free. They may have highly variable returns, are sensitive to changes in interest rates, have income tax implications, may not be liquid, and fees can impact total returns.
This is the biggest and most important mistake that REIT investors keep on making. They see REITs as "income vehicles" and therefore, they will select their investments based on their dividend yield. In their mind, the higher the better. But in reality, the dividend is just a capital allocation decision.
But since REITs are invested in property, there's more protection against the horror show of having shares crash to $0. By law, 75% of a REITs asset must be invested in real estate. The market value of the property owned by the REIT offers a bit of protection, as long as the value of the property doesn't go to zero.
Finally, a REIT is not a pass-through entity. This means that, unlike a partnership, a REIT cannot pass any tax losses through to its investors. Consider consulting your tax adviser before investing in REITs. The Office of Investor Education and Advocacy has provided this information as a service to investors.
Penalties - Imposition of Tax for Failure to Meet the 95–percent or 75–percent Gross Income Tests. If a REIT fails to meet the 95-percent or 75-percent gross income tests but meets the requirements set forth in IRC § 856(c)(6), the REIT does not lose its REIT status but instead pays the tax imposed by IRC § 857(b)(5).
Why are REITs struggling?
First, rising interest rates pushed up the costs of financing property purchases. Then, in March, some regional bank failures and false assumptions of an ensuing nationwide banking “crisis” triggered questions about the financial wherewithal of REIT tenants and possible follow-on effects on REITs themselves.
Publicly traded REITs offer investors a way to add real estate to an investment portfolio or retirement account and earn an attractive dividend. Publicly traded REITs are a safer play than their non-exchange counterparts, but there are still risks.
The strong fourth quarter carried over to an 11.3% return for 2023 as a whole for the REIT-focused index, underperforming the S&P 500's 26.3% return for the year.
Higher interest rates do not necessarily result in lower property values and total returns. Many investors assume that as a rule, interest rates and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) move in opposite directions, where rising interest rates translate to falling returns and weaker performance for REITs.
Still, in a general sense, they are income securities and do trade like income securities. You can usually count on high-yielding REITs moving up when rates are moving down. Individual REITs like Realty Income Corp.
This is known as the geographic market test. Section 856 (d)(2) (C) excludes impermissible tenant service income (ITSI) from the definition of rent from real property, making it “bad income” for the 75% and 95% REIT gross income tests.
REITs should generally be considered long-term investments
This is especially true if you're planning to invest in non-traded REITs since you won't be able to easily access your money until the REIT lists its shares on a public exchange or liquidates its assets. In many cases, this can take around 10 years to occur.
Investors in real estate investment trusts (REITs) were hit hard as the Federal Reserve has aggressively raised interest rates in 2022 and 2023. REITs invest in real estate, lease it to tenants and trade on the stock market like a stock.
After a lackluster performance for the majority of 2023, the Fed's latest decision to keep interest rates steady and an indication of three rate cuts in 2024 are likely to make real estate investment trusts (REITs) an attractive investment option for many.
According to the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit), non-traded REITs typically require a minimum investment of $1,000 to $2,500.
Is now a good time to invest in a REIT?
With rate cuts on the line in the coming year, dividend yields for REITs are likely to be on the attractive side compared with the yields on fixed-income and money-market accounts. This will make REITs desirable to investors.
Public REITs are generally more liquid than private REITs because they trade on a public stock exchange. Investors can buy and sell shares of public REITs at any time during trading hours.
REITs have typically enjoyed strong absolute and relative total return performances after monetary policy tightening cycles end. The valuation divergence between REITs and private real estate will likely converge in 2024, making REITs an attractive option for investors.
REITs have been wealth-creating machines over the years. Realty Income, Equity Lifestyle, and Prologis have all outperformed the S&P 500 over the long term. These well-built REITs should continue enriching their investors in the future. They have the potential to turn long-term, consistent investors into millionaires.
On the one hand they need to borrow money to finance growth. On the other, they can easily run into the problems associated with debt that can affect anybody. High loan payments can be a sign of an aggressive growth strategy, but they can also make it difficult for the REIT to cover its expenses and pay dividends.
