The following analysis uses data from 42 REITs during the period 1987 through 1992.
These equity REITs comprised the equity REIT portion of the Wilshire Real Estate Securities
Index. The Wilshire Index consists of large, actively traded non-health care REITs and real estate
operating companies listed on the public exchanges along with a handful of limited partnerships.
The data base for this study includes only equity REITs in existence in 1987 (there were no new
additions to the Wilshire list from 1988 to 1991, and the 1992 additions to the Index are not
included). There is a close similarity between the Wilshire Index and the REITs included in our
sample. In January 1987, the Wilshire list included 51 securities with a total market capitalization
of $8.0 billion. Forty five of these securities were equity REITs and 42 are included in this study.
Three REITs were dropped due to missing Compustat data. As of December 1992, at the
conclusion of the study period, the Wilshire list had 67 securities and a market capitalization of
$8.9 billion. By comparison, the subject REITs had market capitalization of $5.76 billion in
January 1987 and grew to $6.58 billion by December 1992.