The Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria has disclosed that the dearth of real estate investment trusts on the market has seen investment in that segment fall over the years.

This was shared in an analysis of the investments of PFAs in REITs and real estate in the past five years shared on its official Instagram page on Tuesday, January 7, 2024.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited stated that, REITs are corporations or trusts that use the pooled capital of many investors to purchase and manage income property and/or mortgage loans. REITs are traded on NGX just like stocks; you can buy or sell REITs through your stockbroker as with other types of shares.

The PenOp analysis indicated that investment in REITs had declined from a high of N239.28bn in 2020 to N20.06bn at the end of 2024.

In five years, the lowest point was in 2022, when investment in REITs dropped to N14.14bn from N153.52bn in 2021. It, however, recovered slightly to N21.04bn in 2023 before the latest decline in 2024.

PenOP said, “The gradual drop in investment in REITs is due to the dearth of REITs available in the market.

"However, active funds have shifted to investing in real estate through private equity funds. Unlike active funds, closed pension funds invest directly in real estate and have invested nearly N300bn in direct real estate in 2024.”

In 2024, investment in real estate stood at N273.06bn, higher than it was in 2023 at N245.34bn.