“Hotels operate in fundamentals,” Slatin says. “Occupancy and room rates are recovering faster than offices or industrial or retail,” he explains. And despite the hotel downturn in 2009, Slatin says hotels are dominating once again because of attractive valuations and good access to capital. “They have the capital, they also have a good pipeline and they have good information about what’s in the market,” he says.

Overall, REITs accounted for 27% of total closed and in contract volume in the five main property types, including senior housing, amounting to $22.6 billion in total acquisitions this year to date, led by strong activity and a recovering economy. “Acquisition volume is growing rapidly by leaps and bounds,” Slatin says. And investments by REITs in the senior housing and hotel sectors are showing strength because of several factors, including “great access to low cost capital” like equity and unsecured debt, he says.

At the same time, the initial public offering (IPO) market is mixed due to postponements and cancellations, the report notes. Instead, prospective REITs like New York City-based Eola Capital, LLC and six of its assets are being acquired by Parkway Properties for $462 million. In an even larger deal, Equity Capital Management will be selling its 29-property industrial portfolio to Realty Income Corp. for $544 million, according to RCA. And as the merger and acquisition marketplace intensifies, RCA predicts this “could support continued expansion” as REITs enter “an increasingly competitive property marketplace.”