REIT IPOs – Déjà vu All Over Again

Sponsors of institutional private real estate funds have had difficulties accessing new equity during the past year. In fact, the second quarter of 2009 saw the lowest amount of equity capital raised by private real estate funds in any quarter since 2004. By contrast, public REITs have had great success in issuing their shares, having generated gross proceeds of almost $23 billion in new equity during 2009, the largest amount of equity capital raised in a single year since 1997.