S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) real estate investment trusts (REITs) have had some mixed fortunes in 2020. Many of the biggest REITs have been under pressure with heavy selling pushing share prices lower.
Let's take a look at a few different ASX 200 REITs and how they've fared in the March/April bear market.
The tale of ASX 200 REITs in 2020
Mirvac Group (ASX: MGR) is one of the best-known REITs on the market. Mirvac invests in office, industrial, retail and residential real estate.
The Mirvac share price jumped 4.98% higher on Friday but remains down 27.04% for the year. I think this ASX 200 REIT's office and retail sectors are really taking a hit here.
With more people working from home, that means more tenants that could vacate their premises due to the coronavirus pandemic. Even once the pandemic is under control, there could be mass vacancies with more of a push to work from home.
Similarly, the Scentre Group (ASX: SCG) share price has been falling lower in 2020. Scentre shares are up 36.94% in April but are down 43.86% in 2020.
The ASX 200 REIT operates the Westfield shopping centre chain around Australia and New Zealand. The pandemic has hit the already-struggling Aussie retail sector particularly hard in 2020.
This has put landlords like Scentre in the spotlight this year. A new mandatory code of conduct has helped ease investors' concerns but the long-term earnings outlook remains far from certain.
Is there any good news in the real estate sector?
On the other hand, there's National Storage REIT (ASX: NSR) which has been outperforming in 2020.
The ASX 200 self-storage REIT's shares are down 10.33% in 2020 which is better than the S&P/ASX 200 Index. The benchmark Aussie index has fallen 17.90% lower since the start of the year to 5,487.50 points at the time of writing.
Perhaps the most surprising factor is that National Storage is a potential takeover target. In the pre-coronavirus world, National Storage was hot property with several private equity offers lobbed its way.
I think regardless of whether National Storage gets taken over, the business model could be a good medium-term buy. Self-storage could boom if more people are forced to sell their properties or look to change up their way of life in the wake of the pandemic.
Foolish takeaway
ASX 200 REITs have long been known for paying some tasty dividends. In fact, they're often among the highest yielding income shares on the market.
I'm not sure if now is the best time to buy given the uncertainty. No one really knows what the office or retail sectors will look like in 2021 and beyond, let alone where the residential property market is headed.
