Property owners by region, trends 2024 to 2026, and how to crack the cases
REIT rules and the main owners in each region, how offices, warehouses, homes and malls fared from 2024 to 2026, typical prompts, traps and drills.
Industry brief, with a one-minute summary: Property owners and REITsFirm processes and online tests change from year to year and differ by office. Use this to prepare, and confirm the exact current steps on the firm's own careers page.
Key takeaways
- Property owner cases usually ask why income or value fell, whether to buy, sell or convert a building, how to lease up empty space, or how to fund growth.
- Common traps: Reaching for a generic framework instead of the real driver: here that is occupancy and rent against market, costs, interest and the yield buyers want.
- Rates stayed higher: the US 10-year bond yield averaged 4.29 percent in 2025, against 1.44 percent in 2021.
- Calculate: rent roll and NOI; net effective rent of each leasing option; FFO before and after a change in interest; value as NOI divided by the cap rate; loan to value before and after.
Key idea
Property owner cases usually ask why income or value fell, whether to buy, sell or convert a building, how to lease up empty space, or how to fund growth. First split the problem into income (occupancy, rent, costs) and value (the yield buyers want), then check the debt. The answers also depend on the region, because REIT rules, lease customs and who owns the buildings differ.
| Region | Key rules | Examples of owners |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Pay out at least 90 percent of taxable income; at least 75 percent of assets and of income from real estate | Prologis, Equity Residential, AvalonBay, BXP, Blackstone's private REIT (BREIT) |
| Europe and the UK | National REIT regimes; listed owners report EPRA measures (EPRA earnings, NTA, vacancy) | Vonovia (Germany, homes), SEGRO and Landsec (UK), Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (malls) |
| India | At least 80 percent of value in completed, rent-producing assets; at least 90 percent of cash flows paid out; debt capped at 49 percent | Embassy, Mindspace, Brookfield India, Knowledge Realty Trust and Bagmane (offices), Nexus Select (malls) |
| Singapore | At least 90 percent paid out for tax transparency; borrowing up to 50 percent of assets with income at least 1.5 times interest | CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Mapletree and many trusts with assets abroad |
| Hong Kong and China | Hong Kong REITs; mainland China public REITs since 2021, growing fast | Link REIT; mainland REITs listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen |
| Japan | J-REITs allowed since 2001, mostly offices, homes, warehouses and hotels | Nippon Building Fund and about 60 listed J-REITs |
| Gulf | REITs listed in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, many Sharia compliant | Dubai Residential REIT (listed May 2025), Emirates REIT, Saudi REITs on Tadawul |
| Latin America and Africa | Mexico's FIBRAs and Brazil's real estate funds (FIIs); South African REITs | Fibra Uno (Mexico), Growthpoint (South Africa) |
So-what
Payout rules are similar almost everywhere, but borrowing limits and what a REIT may own differ, and they decide how fast an owner can grow and how much risk it can take.
| Owner | Type | Occupancy | Income trend | Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prologis (2025) | Warehouses, global | 95.8 percent | Core FFO USD 5.81 a share; new leases 43.8 percent above old ones in the fourth quarter | Net debt about 5.3 times EBITDA |
| BXP (2025) | Offices, US | 86.7 percent occupied, 89.4 percent leased | Cash same-property NOI up 1.3 percent in the fourth quarter | Not shown |
| Equity Residential (2025) | Rental homes, US | 96.4 percent | Same-store NOI up 2.2 percent | Not shown |
| Vonovia (2025) | Rental homes, Germany | Vacancy 2.1 percent | Organic rent growth 4.1 percent | LTV 45.4 percent |
| SEGRO (2025) | Warehouses, UK and Europe | 94.9 percent | Like-for-like net rent up 6.0 percent | LTV 31 percent |
| Landsec (year to March 2026) | Offices and shopping, UK | 98.0 percent | Office-led like-for-like income up 6.0 percent | LTV 38.7 percent |
| Link REIT (year to March 2026) | Shopping centres and car parks, Hong Kong and China | Hong Kong retail 97.8 percent | Property income down 3.7 percent; new rents 8.2 percent below old ones in Hong Kong retail | Net gearing 23.9 percent |
| CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (2025) | Malls and offices, Singapore | 96.9 percent committed | New rents 6.6 percent above old ones | Borrowing 38.6 percent of assets |
So-what
Warehouses and good homes kept rising rents. Offices split: Landsec's London offices were almost full, while BXP, a large US office owner, had about 13 percent of its space empty. Retail in Hong Kong and mainland China re-let at lower rents.
Trends 2024 to 2026 (checked 2 October 2026)
- Rates stayed higher: the US 10-year bond yield averaged 4.29 percent in 2025, against 1.44 percent in 2021. US listed REITs returned about 1.7 percent in 2025, against about 17.9 percent for the S&P 500 (FTSE Nareit All REITs, total return). Values stopped falling in some places: Vonovia booked a EUR 1.4 billion gain on valuation in 2025 after a EUR 10.7 billion loss in 2023.
- Warehouses kept winning, and consolidating: Prologis signed a record 228 million square feet of leases in 2025, and in August 2026 agreed to buy SEGRO, the UK warehouse owner, for about USD 18.8 billion, expected to close in the first half of 2027.
- Warehouse owners turned into power owners: Prologis had a 5.7 gigawatt pipeline of power for data centres at the end of 2025, and SEGRO 2.5 gigawatts of powered land, because sites with a grid connection are scarce.
- Offices split by quality: Landsec reported its office-led portfolio 98.6 percent occupied, a decade high, while BXP's US portfolio was 86.7 percent occupied. Hong Kong Grade A office vacancy rose from 9.0 percent at the end of 2019 to 18.4 percent at the end of 2025.
- Rental homes slowed: US rent inflation (the rent of primary residence index) eased from 8.3 percent over 2022 to 2.9 percent over 2025 and 2.7 percent in the year to August 2026. Private capital still bought: Blackstone took AIR Communities private for about USD 10 billion in June 2024.
- New REIT markets grew: India has six listed REITs with about 214 million square feet and a market value above INR 2,15,000 crore in August 2026, and Dubai Residential REIT raised AED 2.1 billion in May 2025 and listed as the Gulf's largest REIT. Mainland China went from 29 listed REITs in 2023 to 58 in 2024.
| Prompt | Structure hint | First driver to check |
|---|---|---|
| A REIT's share price fell 20 percent. Why? | Income (occupancy, rent, costs, interest) against value (cap rate) and debt | Whether NOI fell or the cap rate rose |
| Should an owner convert an empty office building into homes? | Value as homes minus conversion cost, against value as offices; planning rules; time | Rent per square metre as homes against offices, and the conversion cost |
| A tenant asks for a big rent cut to stay. Accept? | Net effective rent of renewing against re-letting, including empty months and incentives | How long similar space stays empty |
| Should a logistics REIT buy a portfolio of warehouses? | Price against NOI, rent gap to market, occupancy, funding, effect on FFO per unit | Rents in place against market rents |
| A mall owner's income is falling. What should it do? | Visits, tenant sales, rent as a share of sales, mix, other uses | Tenant sales per square metre and occupancy cost ratio |
So-what
Separate income from value first. Then ask about the leases: when they end, and how their rents compare with the market.
Using this in a case
- Ask: which property type and city; occupancy and the trend; rents in place against market rents; when leases end (WALE); who pays running costs; debt, its cost and when it must be refinanced; any borrowing or payout rules.
- Calculate: rent roll and NOI; net effective rent of each leasing option; FFO before and after a change in interest; value as NOI divided by the cap rate; loan to value before and after.
- Say: name whether it is an income or a value problem. For example, "NOI is up 2 percent, so the 10 percent fall in value comes from buyers wanting a higher yield. Leasing will not fix that; cutting debt protects us while rates are high."
Reaching for a generic framework instead of the real driver: here that is occupancy and rent against market, costs, interest and the yield buyers want. Comparing headline rents without incentives and empty months. Treating a fall in value as a fall in income. Forgetting that payout rules leave a REIT little cash, so growth depends on debt and new shares. Treating offices as one market when the best and the rest behave very differently.
The property owners brief puts this industry on one page. Development, construction and the basics of cap rates are in the construction and real estate module and brief.
Property owners and REITs briefA property owner's costs are mostly fixed, so profit depends on keeping space full, like a hotel, an airline or a hospital. The utilisation pattern lists the questions to ask in any of them.
The utilisation patternDubai Residential REIT sold units worth AED 2,145 million in its May 2025 listing, which was 15 percent of the fund. What did that imply for the value of the whole fund, in AED million? (Round to the nearest million.)
Vonovia's average rent in place was EUR 8.38 per square metre a month at the end of 2025. What is that for a 70 square metre flat over a year, in EUR? (Round to the nearest euro.)
An office owner in a city with high vacancy is offered a tenant at a low headline rent with no incentives, or at a high headline rent with 18 months free on a 5-year lease. What should it compare?
Why did Prologis agree to buy SEGRO, and what should a candidate check about such a deal?
Sources for this lesson (31)
- Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, 26 US Code section 856 (REIT asset and income tests)
- Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, 26 US Code section 857 (REIT distribution requirement)
- Nareit, REIT industry fact sheet, December 2025
- Nareit, global real estate investment (REIT regimes in 42 countries and regions; listed REITs in China)
- Monetary Authority of Singapore, media release on REIT borrowing limits and interest cover (50 percent limit, 1.5 times minimum), 28 November 2024
- Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, e-Tax Guide on the income tax treatment of REITs (90 percent distribution), December 2025
- Securities and Exchange Board of India, investor education material on REITs (80 percent completed assets, 90 percent distribution, 49 percent debt cap), September 2022
- Indian REITs Association, market overview (six listed REITs; market value at 11 August 2026)
- Association for Real Estate Securitization (Japan), list of J-REITs
- Nippon Building Fund, company website (occupancy and portfolio at 31 August 2026)
- Dubai Holding, "Dubai Holding sets IPO price for Dubai Residential REIT at AED 1.10, raising AED 2.1 billion", 21 May 2025
- Dubai Holding, "Dubai Residential REIT debuts on DFM", May 2025
- Fibra Uno, company website (portfolio)
- Prologis, fourth quarter and full year 2025 results (Form 8-K exhibit 99.2), January 2026
- Prologis, fourth quarter 2025 supplemental (Form 8-K exhibit 99.1), January 2026
- Prologis, "Prologis announces recommended acquisition of SEGRO plc", 4 August 2026
- BXP, fourth quarter and full year 2025 results (Form 8-K exhibit), January 2026
- Equity Residential, fourth quarter and full year 2025 results (Form 8-K exhibit), February 2026
- AvalonBay Communities, fourth quarter and full year 2025 results (Form 8-K exhibit), February 2026
- Vonovia, factsheet with full year 2025 figures
- SEGRO, full year 2025 results, 20 February 2026
- Landsec, results for the year ended 31 March 2026, 14 May 2026
- Link REIT, annual results for the year ended 31 March 2026 (HKEX announcement), 28 May 2026
- CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, FY2025 results, 6 February 2026
- Embassy Office Parks REIT, Q1 FY2027 earnings presentation (contracted rent escalations), July 2026
- Hong Kong Rating and Valuation Department, private offices: vacancy at year end by grade
- Apartment Income REIT (AIR Communities), Form 8-K exhibit on completion of the acquisition by Blackstone Real Estate, June 2024
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, consumer price index, August 2026 (rent of primary residence up 2.7 percent over the year)
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, FRED, consumer price index: rent of primary residence (CUUR0000SEHA)
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, FRED, 10-year Treasury constant maturity rate (GS10)
- Nareit, REIT industry fact sheet, December 2022
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