U.S. REITs raised $25.4 billion from IPOs and secondary debt and equity offerings in the first quarter of 2022. $9.7 billion came from secondary common equity, $545 million from secondary preferred equity, $10.0 billion from secondary debt offerings, and $5.2 billion came from ATM issuance. Four acquisitions of U.S. REITs were announced with a total deal value of over $20 billion.
Capital Raising
U.S. REITs raised more than $25 billion in IPOs and secondary debt and equity offerings in 2022: Q1, down from the $35.4 billion raised during the same period in 2021. This decline came primarily from secondary debt offerings, which fell to $10.0 billion from the $22.2 billion raised in the first quarter of 2021.
- Equity issuance totaled $10.2 billion, including $9.7 billion raised through common equity offerings and $545 million raised through preferred equity offerings. Total equity issuance in 2021: Q1 was $13.2 billion, with $6.1 billion in 2020: Q1.
- Debt issuance totaled $10.0 billion raised at the secondary market, down from the $22.1 billion issued in 2021: Q1 and $21.5 billion in 2020: Q1.
- At-the-market equity issuance was $5.2 billion in 2022: Q1, following $6.7 billion in 2021: Q4. In 2021, $21.8 billion was raised at-the-market, helping propel REITs to a record $133.6 billion raised.
Mergers & Acquisitions
In 2022, five deals to acquire public-listed U.S. REITs have been announced. All five of the transactions, reflecting a total deal value $33.7 billion, represent acquisitions by other publicly traded U.S. REITs. Since the beginning of 2021 deals for nineteen REITs have been announced or completed. Of the roughly $118 billion represented by these deals, 28% is attributed to data center REITs, followed by retail at 27%, and residential at 25%.
Property Acquisitions & Dispositions
REITs posted $39.6 billion in acquisitions against $13.0 billion in dispositions in 2021: Q4; full-year totals for 2021 were $114.1 billion in acquisitions with $46.3 billion in dispositions. Residential, self storage, and retail led with acquisitions of $8.5 billion, $7.5 billion and $6.7 billion in Q4, respectively.
As shown in Chart 2, REITs have been net acquirors of real estate on an annual basis since 2010 and set a new record for net acquisitions in 2021, surpassing the previous high water mark set in 2011. Please see Nareit’s T-Tracker for further details.