International Real Estate Review

The return performance and factor sensitivities of Canadian equity real estate investment trusts (E-REITs) are examined. Today, typical and average Canadian E-REIT IPOs are correctly priced based on first- day and subsequent short-run returns. The overpricing evident earlier in the 1993-96 period for typical and average E-REIT IPOs has corrected. E-REITs are equity investments with about one-half the market risk, and greater ensitivity to interest-rate changes, than the S&P/TSX Composite Index. E-REITs outperformed the S&P/TSX Composite over the 1996-2004 period on a return, risk, and market- and/or risk-adjusted basis. Thus, E-REITs provided material diversification benefits with no sacrifice in return, when added to a common stock portfolio during the studied period.