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Many investors have been slow to believe that online shopping would drive growth for companies that own its lifeblood—warehouses and distribution centers.
But now that the REITs that own those industrial spaces have soared over 17% this year, investors are beginning to reconsider. Especially when equity REITs have grown only 6% and the S&P 500 has inched up a paltry 1.7%, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Yet it’s hard to blame investors for being skeptical, in 2015 and 2014 industrial REITs lagged behind the real estate market by 0.6% and 9.1%, respectively. But it looks like the slow growth is over. Analysts say e-commerce accounts for the increased demand in industrial space, and it’s not going to slow down anytime soon. [WSJ]
