REITs continue to expand the amount of commercial real estate held in the public market as REITs remain among the most active property buyers. According to Real Capital Analytics, the acquisition value for REIT purchases in 2005 was $41.7 billion, trailing only institutional buyers and representing 16 percent of the total 2005 commercial property sales volume. Collectively REITs spent the most capital shopping in the office sector, to the tune of $16.3 billion in acquisitions, followed by $11.2 billion in apartments, $10.3 billion in retail and $3 billion in the industrial sector.

Commercial Real Estate Acquisitions, 2001–2005
		Total Acquisitions
Buyer Type	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Foreign	$2,947,364,199	$6,773,267,144	$8,054,629,865	$13,184,029,632	$15,814,650,456
Institutional	$15,067,497,661	$15,398,996,427	$14,016,931,563	$25,168,924,351	$44,328,186,758
Private–local	$20,734,635,008	$25,115,813,768	$32,375,238,362	$48,101,861,935	$78,009,358,109
Private–national	$16,032,803,033	$20,079,242,984	$30,199,658,597	$46,130,196,052	$60,324,572,267
Public REIT	$9,152,704,180	$27,056,487,017	$21,350,082,806	$33,411,961,638	$41,795,131,252
Other	$6,395,694,409	$4,424,517,235	$6,128,957,431	$6,974,643,849	$8,550,979,317
Grand Total	$70,330,698,489	$98,848,324,575	$112,125,498,624	$172,971,617,457	$248,822,878,159
		Acquisitions by Sector
Buyer Type	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Foreign	$250,158,643	$536,108,333	$339,808,333	$755,250,000	$878,546,006
Institutional	$3,199,135,175	$3,178,660,443	$3,326,199,643	$4,703,180,979	$8,983,034,233
Private—local	$6,349,306,390	$8,874,260,385	$11,193,575,461	$18,374,255,016	$34,452,924,927
Private—national	$4,803,036,729	$4,120,293,608	$7,874,655,023	$13,960,214,077	$20,196,811,878
Public REIT	$2,540,707,090	$3,977,735,880	$3,599,346,911	$7,189,691,960	$11,219,615,073
Other	$396,240,000	$370,700,100	$411,272,488	$552,333,028	$797,794,011
Apartment Total	$20,078,852,690	$22,795,589,736	$29,791,820,062	$50,354,408,653	$84,176,674,398
Industrial
Foreign	$111,651,971	$265,688,000	$258,617,511	$245,225,000	$830,573,265
Institutional	$4,435,311,824	$3,089,744,372	$2,297,952,171	$3,680,706,831	$7,974,433,547
Private - local	$1,769,416,255	$2,353,190,507	$3,313,703,735	$4,205,441,745	$5,619,737,807
Private - national	$938,182,943	$1,079,860,880	$1,519,513,415	$3,070,071,564	$4,318,402,853
Public REIT	$857,064,280	$1,189,623,294	$2,442,815,369	$2,359,031,929	$3,404,682,441
Other	$819,370,617	$903,821,195	$1,314,936,817	$1,783,625,430	$1,869,319,896
Industrial Total	$9,513,709,851	$9,369,330,693	$12,080,858,710	$17,068,560,074	$27,588,788,863
Office
Foreign	$2,310,595,585	$5,086,619,060	$4,410,521,687	$9,826,131,860	$8,401,908,201
Institutional	$6,050,442,062	$7,555,445,758	$6,888,070,799	$12,968,260,771	$21,489,276,260
Private—local	$9,058,128,244	$9,099,670,248	$12,674,956,954	$15,571,824,641	$20,676,289,583
Private—national	$6,749,804,765	$10,116,030,482	$12,039,352,634	$20,824,803,611	$26,357,913,024
Public REIT	$3,823,896,074	$7,321,776,030	$6,302,452,073	$12,948,375,135	$16,360,054,641
Other	$5,677,475,494	$3,028,066,473	$4,075,008,555	$3,238,831,883	$3,855,603,666
Office Total	$35,831,169,889	$43,406,507,939	$48,206,335,480	$78,421,275,205	$103,403,163,488
Retail
Foreign	$270,145,000	$698,963,000	$2,854,826,224	$2,231,499,679	$5,419,179,180
Institutional	$1,455,275,600	$1,699,134,604	$1,455,036,258	$3,669,055,437	$3,283,365,776
Private—local	$3,475,612,058	$4,837,579,295	$6,739,406,576	$9,628,695,912	$11,443,922,779
Private—national	$2,518,845,218	$4,641,858,014	$7,168,624,507	$8,720,455,491	$7,820,351,792
Public REIT	$2,471,095,411	$14,539,151,814	$9,035,071,448	$10,982,557,281	$10,333,543,002
Other	$224,068,874	$334,629,467	$393,853,321	$1,508,368,608	$996,918,455
Retail Total	$11,781,974,025	$28,079,104,481	$29,370,753,314	$40,008,015,738	$45,341,238,875
Source: Real Capital Analytics