A good number of real estate investment trusts made headway in July despite mounting macroeconomic uncertainty weighing on the sector which, after a strong first half of the year, was down 2.6% on average.
Best performing real estate shares
| (%) | |
| Sirius Real Estate | 6.8 |
| International Workplace Group | 6.0 |
| Value & Indexed Property Income Trust | 5.4 |
| Harworth Group | 5.0 |
| Regional REIT | 2.1 |
| Custodian Property Income REIT | 1.4 |
| Shaftesbury Capital | 1.3 |
| Town Centre Securities | 1.1 |
| Warehouse REIT | 1.1 |
| Globalworth Real Estate | 0.8 |
Sirius Real Estate (SRE) continued impressive share price gains in 2025 (up 32.6% year-to-date), with its portfolio of light industrial property in Germany and the UK set to benefit from an uplift in defence budgets. Flexible office provider International Workplace Group (IWG – the company behind brands such as Regus and Spaces) has also enjoyed a fruitful 2025, with its share price up a smidge under 40% in the year-to-date. Since transferring to a real estate investment trust (REIT) structure in April, Value & Indexed Property Income Trust (VIP) has enjoyed a pronounced improvement in share price performance – up almost 16% in four months. Harworth Group (HWG) also enjoyed a strong July, as its attractive growth outlook continues to appeal to investors.
Worst performing real estate shares
| (%) | |
| Abrdn European Logistics Income | (21.4) |
| Life Science REIT | (13.2) |
| Unite Group | (11.7) |
| Alternative Income REIT | (8.6) |
| Land Securities | (8.5) |
| Big Yellow Group | (7.5) |
| Conygar Investment Company | (7.5) |
| British Land | (7.1) |
| Derwent London | (6.9) |
| Grainger | (6.6) |
Abrdn European Logistics Income’s (ASLI) share price tanked on news of a heavily discounted sale of its Madrid portfolio, as the company continues its managed wind-down and return capital to investors. Life Science REIT (LABS) suffered a major write-down of the value of its portfolio (see the table below) as it continues to court investors for its portfolio, which has suffered high vacancy rates and a softening of the life sciences sector in recent years. Unite Group (UTG) fell heavily for a second consecutive month following news of its potential offer for listed peer Empiric Student Property (ESP). Indicative of the risk-off environment, the share prices of real estate titans Land Securities (LAND) and British Land (BLND), typically proxies for the state of the property sector, both suffered substantial falls. Both are now slightly down in the year-to-date.
Valuation moves
| Company | Sector | NAV move (%) | Period | Comments |
| Picton Property | Diversified | 1.0 | Quarter to 30 June 25 | Like-for-like portfolio valuation increase of 0.4% to £707.1m |
| Residential Secure Income | Residential | 0.6 | Quarter to 30 June 25 | Portfolio value flat as formal sales process launched |
| AEW UK REIT | Diversified | (1.1) | Quarter to 30 June 25 | Value of portfolio up 0.1% to £215.8m. NAV fall due to acquisition costs and uncovered dividend |
| Shaftesbury Capital | Retail | 3.3 | Half-year to 30 June 25 | Like-for-like property valuation uplift of 3.1% to £5.2bn |
| Hammerson | Retail | 3.0 | Half-year to 30 June 25 | Portfolio valuation up 11.2% to £3.0bn – first valuation gain since 2017 |
| Unite Group | Student accommodation | 1.4 | Half-year to 30 June 25 | £9.3bn portfolio valuation, up 1.4% on a like-for-like basis |
| Primary Health Properties | Healthcare | 1.1 | Half-year to 30 June 25 | Portfolio valued at £2.8bn, a 2.2% uplift over the six-month period |
| SEGRO | Logistics | 0.3 | Half-year to 30 June 25 | Portfolio value increased 0.5% to £18.5bn |
| Life Science REIT | Offices/labs | (10.9) | Half-year to 30 June 25 | Reflects uniform decline across the company’s five assets, as it continues to look for buyer |
| Assura | Healthcare | 2.2 | Full year to 31 Mar 25 | Portfolio valued at £3.1bn, with £500m portfolio acquired during the year |
Valuations were broadly positive in recent results announcements, as the sector continues its slow ascent from its nadir point. The retail sub-sector was particularly strong, with 3%+ NAV gains from both Shaftesbury Capital (SHC) and Hammerson (HMSO) – the latter posting a very impressive double-digit portfolio valuation uplift over the six months to the end of June. Gains in the primary healthcare sector were also promising ahead of the expected merger of Primary Health Properties (PHP) and Assura (AGR).
