ASX 200 real estate shares are lifting today – here's why

Can you hear that?

That's the sigh of relief being issued by millions of Victorians and a lesser number of South Australians exiting lockdowns.

Also receiving some relief are shareholders in S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) real estate shares.

On the down side, ASX 200 real estate shares will continue to be hampered as lockdowns were extended by 4 weeks in the Greater Sydney area as well as some outlying regions in New South Wales. This after the state recorded 177 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases.

However, South Australia recorded no new COVID-19 cases after its snap 7-day lockdown, while the 8 cases reported in Victoria were all said to be in self isolation already.

Both states maintain some restrictions, but retail outlets have been given the green light to open their doors.

This looks to be lifting investor sentiment in ASX 200 real estate shares including Vicinity Centres (ASX: VCX) and Scentre Group (ASX: SCG).

How have these ASX 200 real estate shares been performing?

Vicinity Centres is primarily focused on owning and managing Australian shopping centres.

As you'd expect then, the ASX 200 real estate share was smashed during the February and March 2020 pandemic-fuelled market selloff, with shares crashing 59%. While shares have rebounded strongly since then, Vicinity Centres is still trading 38% below its pre-COVID levels.

At time of writing the share price is up 2.16% in intraday trading, while the ASX 200 is down 0.70%. Vicinity has a market cap of $6.8 billion and pays a dividend yield of 6.60%, unfranked.

Also gaining today is ASX 200 real estate heavyweight Scentre Group. Scentre owns and operates Westfield properties across Australia and New Zealand.

Scentre also saw its share price crushed during the 2020 COVID market panic, falling 60% from 21 February through to 27 March 2020. Over the past 12 months the share price has gained 21%.

Scentre's share price is also bucking the falling ASX 200 today, up 1.40%. Scentre has a market cap of $13 billion. It pays a dividend yield of 2.73%, unfranked.