A comparative analysis of apartment REITs in US and China : an examination of challenges and opportunities

Abstract

During the past 2 years, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and the push to develop more rental housing in China have drawn lots of attention. REITs are expected to provide multiple capital channels for the development of rental apartments without continuously leveraging up the real estate industry, as traditional financing methods did. The mechanism of equity REIT can help cultivate and accelerate the formation of a sustainable rental housing market in China. This thesis explores the opportunities and obstacles for REITs to work in the rental housing market in China by exploring the reasons for introducing REITs in the Chinese real estate market from a macro and historical perspective; by examining some cases of the newly issued REIT-like companies in China; and by reviewing the framework and system of REITs in US markets so as to draw lessons for China from a comparative perspective. This thesis finds that equity REITs are still very immature and are not widely accepted by mass investors in China. The thesis puts forward three suggestions for apartment REITs in China: to streamline the REIT structure and avoid excessive complexity and opacity; to promote information transparency and regulated disclosure mechanism; to encourage and protect equity REIT investors by constraining REITs from taking on too much debt. Finally, the thesis concludes that REITs, as shown by US experience, should be regarded as a great opportunity to cultivate Chinese investors' confidence in the stock market with its very simple and plain-vanilla structure. With the Chinese government's strong ambition to increase housing affordability and to deleverage the economy, we foresee continuous legislative breakthroughs and more systematic improvements in the REIT field.