Every REIT publishes a Net Asset Value (NAV) per share — the appraised value of its property portfolio minus debt, divided by units outstanding. The market price often differs.

Formula

premium_or_discount = (price − NAV) / NAV × 100

A REIT trading at 0.85× NAV has a −15% discount. At 1.20× NAV, a +20% premium.

What a discount means

The market is pricing in *something* the published NAV doesn't reflect:

  • Rising rates — appraisals lag interest-rate moves. New rate = lower future-cash-flow value.
  • Vacancy risk — if occupancy is dropping, market re-prices ahead of NAV write-downs.
  • Refinancing wall — large debt maturing soon at higher rates.
  • Property type out of favour — office post-COVID, China retail, etc.

A persistent discount can also mean the NAV itself is overstated and management hasn't yet booked the impairment.

What a premium means

Market sees future NAV growth (acquisitions, rent reversions, new development pipeline) the appraisal doesn't yet capture. Sponsor REITs with strong pipelines often trade at premiums.

How we publish it

We pull bookValue and priceToBook from Yahoo Finance daily and recompute. We flag values where |premium| > 100% as stale — almost always different share classes, missing book-value field, or rights issues not yet reflected. Stale values render as — rather than misleading numbers.

Full list ranked by discount: [REITs at NAV discount](/en/reits/discounts).

Limitations

  • NAV is appraisal-based, not transactional. Different appraisal cycles across REITs make cross-REIT comparison rough.
  • Yahoo Finance bookValue occasionally lags the REIT's own filed NAV by 1-2 quarters.
  • Always cross-check the REIT's investor-relations release for the latest reported NAV before trading on the discount.