Market cap of REITs in the U.S. 1975-2021

The real estate investment trusts (REITs) market in the United States has been growing and in 2021, it reached a record high market capitalization. With market cap of 1.74 billion U.S. dollars, 2021 was the strongest year on record. 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 in 2020 measured more than 200 REITs. 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 18.8 billion U.S. dollars.

Global dominance of American REITs

The largest ten REITs worldwide were based in the United States as of 2020. Boston-based American Tower was the largest REIT globally in terms of market capitalization in that year.