REITs

For the 16 quarters ending with the first quarter of 2013, equity REITs outperformed the S&P 500 in 11 of those quarters. Since stocks hit bottom in 2009 (through the first quarter of 2013), the Dow Jones Equity All REIT Index, which tracks 137 REITs, returned 233%, compared to 153% for the S&P 500 over the same period.