The increasing prevalence of mutated COVID-19 virus strains could refuel the demand for industrial REITs, which have traditionally performed well during the height of the pandemic.

This was the assessment provided by the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (APREA), which reported a 1.6% rise in the GPR/APREA Listed Real Estate Composite index for December 2020.

The index, which tracks a basket of securitised real estate companies across the region, also saw broad-based gains among Asia-Pacific REITs, as funds shifted towards higher-risk segments.