Global Returns Dipped in 2020 Before Rebounding in 2021

Even before COVID-19, real estate investors were facing a number of secular and cyclical shifts that were affecting their portfolios, but the onset of the pandemic brought with it additional challenges, affecting the way people lived, worked and shopped. Uncertainty in 2020 caused total returns to dip and capital growth to turn negative for only the third time since the inception of the index but unlike the financial crisis low of 2009, total returns remained positive. Returns rebounded in 2021 as vaccine rollouts progressed and economic activity picked up again with the 13.1% total return just 160 basis points lower than the record high recorded in 2005.