Using data for the 1978-2008 period, this study presents evidence for cointegration between securitized (NAREIT) and direct (NCREIF) total return indices. Cointegration between the indices indicates that REITs and direct real estate are substitutable in the portfolio of a long-horizon...

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are the only truly liquid assets related to real estate investments. We study the behavior of U.S. REITs over the past three decades and document their return characteristics. REITs have somewhat less market risk than equity; their betas against a broad...

This paper analyzes the role played by financial assets, direct real estate, and the Fama and French factors in explaining EREIT returns and examines the usefulness of these variables in forecasting returns. Four models are analyzed and their predictive potential is assessed by comparing three...

This paper examines whether the predictability of securitized real estate returns differs from that of stock returns. It also provides a cross-country comparison of securitized real estate return predictability. In contrast to most of the literature on this issue, the analysis is not based on a...

Choosing an appropriate benchmark is not unproblematic for academics or practitioners. Index construction methodologies vary from index to index as tradeoffs are made between the breadth of market coverage and the investability of the securities in the index. This paper examines the nuances...