Real Estate Investment Trusts in Turkey : Structure, Analysis, and Strategy

Purpose- Aim of this study is to make the determinations related to the problems mentioned in the REIT sector in Turkey, to offer a solution for this issue, and to ensure the classification in the sector by adhering to the financial data of the REITs.Methodology- Financial data set of the REITs was firstly standardized by using median instead of mean. Then, the scoring was performed according to defined coefficients. After that normality test of the obtained scores was performed, the area of each score under standard normal distribution curve was calculated and the scores were moved to the 0-100‎ range. Finally,‎ scores‎ were‎ collected‎ under‎ 5‎ groups‎ as‎ "Very‎ Good,‎ Good, Not‎ Bad,‎ Bad‎ and‎ Very‎ Bad" by‎ using‎ k-means algorithm. Clustering were made on R Studio.Findings- Our analyses conducted that REITs traded on the Istanbul Stock Exchange are divided into two subgroups depending on their financial data.Conclusion- It will be important the REITs, in the sub-group especially in terms of the score distribution, to diversify their portfolio by extending their asset investments, to stabilize dividend payments and to take steps on institutionalization so that they are equivalent to REITs in the super-group