Market cap of REITs in the U.S. 1975-2019

In 2019, real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the United States had a market capitalization of 1.33 trillion U.S. dollars. REITs are companies which own and operate real estate to generate income.

U.S. REIT sector

The number of REITs operating in the U.S. has fluctuated over the past 45 years and stood at 226 in 2018. The number in operation has slightly fallen from its record high of 233 REITs in 2015. As of April 2019, Welltower was the largest senior housing REIT in the country with a market capitalization of 29.5 billion U.S. dollars.

Global dominance of American REITs

The largest ten REITs worldwide were based in the United States as of 2019. Boston-based American Tower was the largest REIT globally in terms of market capitalization in that year.