This is taken from the weekend edition of The Business Times: Simon Rudolph, Franklin Templeton Investments' portfolio manager for global equities: "We invest in REITs when we can buy them with good yields, but most importantly, at a good discount to the NAV. Real estate has to be about total return and not just income." "When you buy something at 30% premium to NAV, unless there is a reason it is trading at a premium, it can still go back to par." This is something that I can identify with and it is something I have always talked about in my blog as something to look out for when deciding which S-REITs to invest in. Off the top of my head, my investments in AIMS AMP Capital Industrial REIT and First REIT appreciated some 40 to 75% in value in the last 3 years. This is on top of annual distribution yields of 13 to 17%. Readers who have walked the walk with me the whole time could possibly verify this ......