REIT Index Outperforms Nasdaq and S&P 500

NEW YORK CITY-On Friday, the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Index reached an all time high, 377.1, up 3% year to date, outperforming both the Standard & Poors 500 and the Nasdaq, which were down 2.1% and 11%, respectively, for the same period. It did not do as well as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, which is up 4.8%, according to data compiled by the Bear Stearns REIT Monitor, which appears weekly.

For the week ending May 16, mutual funds dedicated to real estate saw an inflow of $19 million, driving total assets to $10.7 billion, a figure not seen since July 1998. The average 30-day trading volume increased to 16.5 million, 1.3% above that of the week before.