On The Comovement of REIT Prices

Abstract

This study examines the comovement of equity real estate investment trust (REIT) prices in both the vintage (1980–1991) and the new (1992–2004) REIT eras. The results indicate that the comovement of equity REIT prices within the same property type has strengthened during the new REIT era. The results also indicate that, all else being equal, a high institutional participation, a low insider ownership, and a large market capitalization are associated with a high within-property-type price synchronicity. The evidence is consistent with two notions: (1) that increasing participation by institutional investors in the new REIT era facilitates the pricing of property-type common information on firm-level prices, and (2) that REITs’ information openness to institutional investing plays a role in this strengthened pricing relationship.