Public REITs secondary market shows signs of stabilization; new product launches are booming alongside highlights in the annual report

The public REITs market has recently shown a divergence pattern: in the secondary market, after the earlier adjustment, things have gradually stabilized, while in the primary market newly issued products continue to attract strong inflows. According to Wind data, in the week from March 30 to April 3, the CSI REITs Total Return Index fell only slightly by 0.01%, while the REITs Total Index rose by 0.09%, indicating that market sentiment has warmed. On April 3 alone, the CSI REITs Total Return Index closed up 0.25% at 1355.15 points, and its weekly performance was clearly better than the overall 2.45% decline in March.

Judging by individual stock performance, storage and logistics, consumer infrastructure, and technology park REITs became the highlights of the week. The Harvest Jingdong Storage Infrastructure REIT led the market with a weekly gain of 5.38%, while China Merchants Kechuang REIT and Hu’an Bailian Consumer REIT rose by 4.16% and 3.70%, respectively. Six products—including Gauthay Haitong Dongjiu New Economy REIT and Huaxia Hefei Hi-Tech REIT—recorded gains of more than 1.9%. On the downside, 40 products saw pullbacks, among which the CICC Chongqing Liangjiang REIT led with a decline of 5.54%; in addition, 10 other products fell by more than 1%. Looking at the full-year perspective, Hu’an Bailian Consumer REIT and ICBC Mengneng Clean Energy REIT both rose by more than 9%, and four products including Huatai Jiangsu JiaoKong REIT increased by more than 8%.

Subscription enthusiasm in the primary market remains high. The latest disclosed placement results for the Orientalhong Tongdao Shares Expressway REIT show that, among 1 billion fund units, the strategic placement proportion was 70%, the proportion of the placement for sale to underwriters/offline issuance was 21%, and the portion subscribed by public investors was 9%. Earlier, the product announcement indicated that the confirmation ratio for effective subscription applications from public investors was 0.84%, confirming market demand for new-infrastructure category REITs.

As disclosures of public REITs’ annual reports are coming to a close, the characteristics of institutional holdings have become even more evident. Research from CICC Securities states that in 2023, the distributable amounts available for distribution for most products were completed beyond expectations, mainly due to factors including cost control, retained earnings from project operations, and performance compensation from original rights holders. From the valuation perspective, more than 60% of underlying asset valuations declined, driven by lowered future earnings expectations and a shorter remaining term. In terms of portfolio structure, broker-dealer proprietary capital remains the main force in the secondary market; the proportion held by the top ten tradable shareholders exceeds 50%, consistent with the mid-2025 interim data.