Price to equity (PE) ratios of REITs worldwide 2020-2023, by country

The price to earning (PE) ratios of REITs worldwide as of March 2023 varied between six and 26 percent, depending on the market. The PE ratio is a valuation metric and is calculated as the ratio of the total market cap to the total earnings. A higher PE ratio means that the market cap has grown higher than the earnings - a sign of high investor confidence but also that the market may be overpriced. Though the U.S. REITs market had the highest PE ratio as of March 2023 (26), it was also a decrease from the same period in 2022.

REITs are companies that own or finance rental real estate. One of their major benefit is liquidity: Though not all REITs are publicly traded, many of the major ones are, which allows investors to easily buy and sell shares. Because REITs pay out most of their taxable income to shareholders as dividends, they typically do not pay any corporate income tax.