Real Estate Operating Companies Research Articles

Leverage Strategies of Real Estate Investment Trusts and Real Estate Operating Companies

This paper employs empirical data in three major Asian real estate markets - Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore, from 2001 to 2021, to study the leverage strategies of two related types of real estate companies – real estate investment trusts (REITs) and real estate operating companies (REOCs). The business model of the former must adhere to a real-estate-focused investment strategy while the latter undertakes a whole range of real estate development activities including land acquisition, financial feasibility analysis, construction, investment and asset management to redevelopment and disposal, and are not subject to the REIT rules with respect to tax transparency, earning distribution, real estate holding and leverage limit. We find that REOCs use 18.96% more debt than REITs after controlling for the agency and market risks, dividend yields, and property sector, country, and year fixed effects of firms; dividend payout has no effect on the leverage strategies; and high tax ratio increases the debt usage of REOCs relative to REITs. We also analyze the liquidation costs and business uniqueness effects. We find real estate value to total firm value ratio, as a proxy of liquidation cost, has negative effects on debt ratios for both real estate firms. Due to their uniqueness, REOCs with a high concentration of rental revenue stream are more vulnerable to liquidation risks, and thus more likely to have lower debt ratio. REITs however tend to have higher debt usage as rental incomes enhance cash-flow liquidity.

Strategic Transactions around REIT Conversions

This article examines the conversion-related mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity and post-conversion performance of 80 international Real Estate Operating Companies (REOCs) that adopted Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) status. In the years prior to the conversion, we document an increased M&A deal activity that is in part driven to fulfill regulatory REIT requirements. We find that REOCs are willing to pay a premium above the market valuation to acquire desired portfolios. Moreover, we document that the REIT status enhances equity inflows, driving increased M&A transaction activities and deal volume. While converted REITs outperform their peers over the long run, we find that a lower (higher) level of restructuring activity is associated with even higher (risk-adjusted) performance.

The REIT Conversion Puzzle

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are a globally recognized form of real estate ownership that offer tax benefits at a corporate level. Despite their clear advantages, however, a significant share of potentially eligible Real Estate Operating Companies (REOCs) do not opt for conversion to a REIT structure. This paper examines 80 REOC-to-REIT conversions across 13 countries. We find REIT conversions are generally driven by the extent of country-specific tax benefits. They are also more likely following prior conversions by other REOCs, and in countries with a larger share of extant REITs. REIT conversions may be motivated by Net Asset Value (NAV) discounts, especially if management’s compensation is highly equity-based. This illustrates the importance of aligning the interests of management and shareholders. On the other hand, relatively restrictive REIT criteria, such as the disclosure and taxation of hidden values during the conversion process, are associated with significantly lower conversion probabilities. Countries that have eased REIT criteria have subsequently seen significantly more conversions.

The financialization of rented homes: continuity and change in housing financialization

This paper has two purposes: the first is to offer an empirical account of how rented homes have become more entangled in financial markets over the past two decades, particularly through the advent of real estate investment trusts (REITs) and listed real estate operating companies (REOCs). The second is to assess whether conceptualizing this as a process of “rental housing financialization” — distinct from but connected to the broader concepts of “housing financialization” and “financialization” — offers value to the scholarly community.

The technological impact on real estate investing: robots vs humans: new applications for organisational and portfolio strategies

PurposeThe goal of this paper is to present a roadmap for real estate operating companies (REOCs) to transform themselves into tech-centric enterprises.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative approach is based on the impact of technology on physical real estate assets and organisational structures as reviewed in industry and academic literature, professional experience and current property technology (PropTech) applications.FindingsNew technologies are rapidly changing how investors, tenants and managers use, invest and finance property. The revolutionary change for the industry will be in its organisational and industry structure, away from the traditional hierarchical-mechanistic form to a virtual open-agile-innovative organisational form.Research limitations/implicationsResearch limitations come from the lack of real estate companies utilising the hybrid flipped form of organisational structures.Practical implicationsDue to the current state of the economy, effects of the pandemic and rapid adoption of new technologies, real estate companies are likely to radically change the way they are organised, how they add value, innovate and their leadership/management style.Social implicationsThe revolution in real estate technologisation will not come from the application of these technologies but the rapid change in ideological thought and management leadership style and culture.Originality/valueThe introduction of artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), blockchain, virtual reality, tablets, cell phones, applications, 5G, etc. is putting pressure on real estate organisations to change. These changes are long overdue and the future, modern real estate company will take a hybrid PropTech form – a company focussed on delivering high-quality products and services to its clients in real time.

Underpricing and market timing in SEOs of European REITs and REOCs

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to contribute to the literature on seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) by examining the underpricing of European real estate corporations and identifying determinants explaining the phenomenon of setting the offer price at a discount at SEOs.Design/methodology/approachWith a sample of 470 SEOs of European real estate investment trusts (REITs) and real estate operating companies (REOCs) from 2004 to 2018, multivariate regression models are applied to test for theories on the pricing of SEOs. This paper furthermore tests for differences in underpricing for REITs and REOCs as well as specialized and diversified property companies.FindingsSignificant underpricing of 3.06 percent is found, with REITs (1.90 percent) being statistically less underpriced than REOCs (5.08 percent). The findings support the market timing theory by showing that managers trying to time the equity market gain from lower underpricing. Furthermore, underwritten offerings are more underpriced to reduce the risk of the arranging bank, but top-tier underwriters are able to reduce offer price discounts by being more successful in attracting investors. The results cannot support the value uncertainty hypothesis, but they are in line with placement cost stories. In addition, specialized property companies are subject to lower underpricing.Practical implicationsAn optimal issuance strategy taking into account timing, relative offer size and the choice of the underwriter can minimize the amount of “money left on the table” and therefore contribute to the lower cost of raising capital.Originality/valueThis is the first study to investigate SEO underpricing for European real estate corporations, pricing differences of REITs and REOCs in seasoned offerings and the effect of market timing on the pricing of SEOs.

Is the rest of the EU missing out on REITs?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate whether real estate investment trusts (REITs) have any significant cost-efficiency advantages over real estate operating companies (REOCs).Design/methodology/approachThe data for listed companies were extracted from the Bloomberg terminal. The authors analyzed financial ratios and conducted a non-parametric data envelope analysis (DEA) for 534 firms in the USA, Canada and some EU member states.FindingsThe results suggest that REITs were much more cost-efficient than REOCs by all the parameters in the DEA model during the entire three-year period under consideration. Although the debt-to-equity levels were similar, REOCs were more relying on short-term than long-term maturities, which made them more vulnerable against market corrections or shocks. Being larger in asset size did not necessarily guarantee greater economies of scale. Both – the cases of increasing economies of scale and diseconomies – were detected. The time period 2015–2017 showed the general trend of decreasing efficiency.Originality/valueVery few papers on the topic of REITs have attempted to find out whether a different firm structure displays any differences in efficiency. Because the question of REITs and sustainable growth of the real estate market has become a prominent issue, this research can help EU countries to consider the option of adopting a REIT system. If this system were successfully implemented, the EU member states could benefit from a more sustainable and more rapid growth of their real estate markets.

A Comparative Analysis of R.E.I.T.s, R.E.O.C.s and P.R.E.O.C.s Using a Stochastic Frontier Approach

Although the first real estate investment trust (R.E.I.T.) was created in 1960s, according to the latest data of 2018, only 13 out of 28 European countries had such systems on their stock-exchange. Many economists have published detailed studies stating the advantages of R.E.I.T.s, however, the developing part of Europe is still slow to react with legislative initiatives. This article extends the existing research on R.E.I.T. efficiencies and compares them to private real estate operating companies (P.R.E.O.C.s) as well as real estate operating companies (R.E.O.C.s) across the U.S., Canada and the European Union by using a stochastic frontier, panel-data models of translog cost functions while trying to identify whether a significant benefit arises from different corporate structures. The results confirm that out of 666 companies under consideration, all types of real estate (R.E.) firms achieve economies of scale. Furthermore, in the time period of 2014–2016, REITs on average were less reliant on short-term debt, they had a lower debt-to-equity ratio, were more efficient at managing costs in three stochastic translog models and partially in fourth, had a stronger economy of scale effect when their assets size increased, and remained competitively profitable though were outperformed in the profit and revenue area.

An Exploratory Study of Agency Costs of Sponsored REITs in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan

Executive Summary. Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan, which are the three most active real estate investment trust (REIT) markets in Asia, follow the external REIT model, which is typically tied to a sponsor. In this study, I examine the agency costs in the sponsored REITs of the Asian Big 3 REIT markets in an effort to understand the conflicts of interest in the sponsored REITs of the Asian Big 3. The overall evidence indicates that the agency costs of the sponsored REITs in the Asian Big 3 are not severe compared to the REITs in more mature markets, REITs elsewhere in the world, as well as real estate operating companies (REOCs) in their own national markets, suggesting that sponsored REITs in the Asian Big 3 emulate the internally advised REITs in response to market pressure.

Spillovers of Non-Fundamental Risks in Securitized Real Estate Companies

Ambrose et al (2007) showed that when few REITs were included into the S&P general market indices in 2001, other REITs that are not included in the indices became more correlated with the market index returns. Whilst Ambrose et al (2007) examine information spillovers between two assets in the same category (indexed REITs versus non-indexed REITs), this study tests the information spillover effects of the REIT’s index inclusion on a non-overlapping category of assets represented by non-index real estate operating companies (REOCs). Using both the US and Singapore data, we found that the non-index REOC returns became more correlated with the general market index returns after the REIT’s index inclusion event in the US, but the spillover effects on REOCS were weaker in Singapore market. We also use the REIT IPO events in Singapore to test if spillovers could be induced by other market risks, and our results remain the same, where increases in beta were only observed in REIT market, but the changes were insignificant in REOC betas after the IPO events. However, we also found significant captive relationships between REOCs and their sponsored REITs, which imply that REOCs could use REIT IPOs as a “de-risk” vehicle to reduce systematic risks of the sponsor REOCs.

Why Do REIT Returns Poorly Reflect Property Returns? Unrealizable Appreciation Gains due to Trading Constraints as the Solution to the Short‐Term Disparity

This study addresses the short‐term disparity between REIT returns and direct property returns, and argues that this phenomenon is due to the trading constraints in the direct property market imposed on REITs (the dealer rule). This renders REITs unable to time markets in order to realize short‐term property appreciation profits, making REITs primarily a property income investment rather than a full property investment, and explains the observed disparity. Empirically, I find that REIT returns consistently reflect property income returns, but not property appreciation returns. This makes this study the first in the literature to find a consistent link between REIT returns and any portion of direct property returns at short time horizons, in the context of a linear factor model. I then set up a natural laboratory to test the trading‐constraints explanation by examining the appreciation dependence of different types of REITs, which should be differently affected by the trading constraints. I find that returns to UPREITs, which are less affected by the constraints, have a stronger appreciation dependence than returns to regular REITs. I also perform a size test and find that large REITs, which are less affected by the constraints, have a stronger appreciation dependence than small REITs. When testing the effects of UPREIT and size characteristics simultaneously, I find a consistent UPREIT effect. I further find that Real Estate Operating Companies (REOCs), which are not subject to trading constraints, show short‐term property appreciation dependence. These findings offer strong support for the trading‐restrictions explanation.

LIQUIDITY OF EUROPEAN REAL ESTATE EQUITIES: REITS AND REOCS

Listed real estate companies can be divided into two categories: real estate operating companies (REOCs) and real estate investment trusts (REITs). REOCs have been around for quite a while, whereas REITs are a somewhat new phenomenon in Europe, the main differences pertaining to permissible activities and taxation. This paper studies the relative differences of REOCs and REITs in terms of liquidity: Also asset returns, volatility and correlation to other equities are assessed. The liquidity tests performed reveal REITs to be significantly more liquid than REOCs, potentially due to restrictions regarding REIT ownership structure. Ceteris paribus, superior REIT liquidity implies REITs constitute a preferred investment vehicle.

Why Do Reit Returns Poorly Reflect Property Returns? Unrealizable Appreciation Gains Due to Trading Constraints as the Solution to the Short-Term Disparity

This study addresses the short-term disparity between REIT returns and direct property returns, and argues that this phenomenon is due to the trading constraints in the direct property market imposed on REITs (the dealer rule). This renders REITs unable to time markets in order to realize short-term property appreciation profits, making REITs primarily a property income investment rather than a full property investment, and explains the observed disparity. Empirically, I find that REIT returns consistently reflect property income returns, but not property appreciation returns. This makes this study the first in the literature to find a consistent link between REIT returns and any portion of direct property returns at short time horizons, in the context of a linear factor model. I then set up a natural laboratory to test the trading-constraints explanation by examining the appreciation dependence of different types of REITs, which should be differently affected by the trading constraints. I find that returns to UPREITs, which are less affected by the constraints, have a stronger appreciation dependence than returns to regular REITs. I also perform a size test and find that large REITs, which are less affected by the constraints, have a stronger appreciation dependence than small REITs. When testing the effects of UPREIT and size characteristics simultaneously, I find a consistent UPREIT effect. I further find that Real Estate Operating Companies (REOCs), which are not subject to trading constraints, show short-term property appreciation dependence. These findings offer strong support for the trading-restrictions explanation.

The Impact of REOCs and Public Mortgage Finance Companies on the Performance and Volatility of U.S. REITs

Executive Summary. This paper extends the evidence on the financial performance of real estate investment trusts (REITs) by analyzing whether U.S. REIT index returns are impacted by other domestic firms that primarily engage in real estate activities but are not structured as REITs such as real estate operating companies (REOCs) and mortgage finance companies (MFCs). There is strong evidence that U.S. REITs are impacted by these other firms engaged in mortgage financing activities; thus underscoring the linkages between the overall capital markets and real estate performance. These results can be attributed to the changing dynamics of the real estate sector and its significant interrelationships. The findings have strong implications for constructing mixed-asset investment portfolios.

REIT and REOC Systematic Risk Sensitivity

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Real Estate Operating Companies (REOCs) seem to have different systematic risk levels even though both invest almost exclusively in real estate-related assets. The findings indicate that business risk is negatively related to systematic risk, as measured by beta, for REITs, while betas are positively related to agency costs for REOCs. The two groups' betas also show differing sensitivity to real estate property type and regional location. REITs' systematic risk is also sensitive to financial leverage and financing form.