State Street SPDR Dow Jones International Real Estate ETF

RWX

Market cap $278M

REITs have refused to break in 2026 despite oil-driven inflation pressure, rising Treasury yields, and a Fed narrative that flipped from multiple rate cuts to potential hikes. The “Rates Up, REITs Down” regime has weakened, with REIT-rate correlations falling sharply as fundamentals, strategy, capital allocation, and valuation catalysts increasingly drive performance. M&A has helped break the rate-driven narrative, validating public-market discounts to NAV and proving that REITs can unlock value through consolidation, privatizations, and strategic alternatives.

Surging oil prices and hotter inflation reports reignited rate-hike concerns, sending Treasury yields to one-year highs as the Iran conflict remained stalemated despite the highly anticipated Trump-Xi summit.

Vanguard Global ex-U.S. Real Estate ETF has a significantly lower expense ratio of 0.12% compared to 0.59% for State Street SPDR Dow Jones International Real Estate ETF. The Vanguard fund offers a higher trailing dividend yield and broader diversification with 682 holdings while the SPDR fund holds 121 positions.

U.S. equity markets advanced for a fifth straight week - their longest winning streak since 2024 - as strong earnings, resilient data, and hopes for lasting Iran peace fueled optimism. Investors looked through another oil-price surge and inflationary pressure, focusing instead on corporate resilience and economic strength despite a complex macro backdrop shaped by geopolitical and policy uncertainty. The Fed held rates steady in an unusually fractured 8-4 vote, while Powell's plan to remain on the Board broke precedent and raised politically charged succession questions.

After 1,078 trading days, U.S. REITs (FTSE NAREIT All Equity Total Return Index) reached new all-time highs on Friday, April 17. Commercial real estate (CRE) has already undergone a significant valuation reset, while many other public and private markets have yet to experience a comparable repricing. Signals from the U.S. listed REIT market indicate that real estate is transitioning from recovery to expansion, as valuations move above prior cycle highs.

GQRE charges a lower expense ratio and offers a higher dividend yield than RWX. RWX outperformed on one-year return, but GQRE showed stronger five-year growth and a slightly milder max drawdown.

REET carries a much lower expense ratio and greater assets under management than RWX. RWX delivered a stronger one-year return but lagged REET over five years on a total return basis.

HAUZ delivers a much lower expense ratio and higher yield than RWX Both ETFs returned 13.4% over the past year, but HAUZ holds more names and covers more of the global real estate sector Liquidity profiles are similar and HAUZ manages more assets.

RWX charges a much higher expense ratio (0.59%) than VNQ (0.13%) VNQ covers U.S. real estate almost exclusively, while RWX focuses on international real estate companies RWX is much smaller and less liquid, which could matter for investors trading larger positions

VNQI charges a much lower expense ratio and boasts a higher dividend yield than RWX. RWX is more concentrated, with only 121 holdings, while VNQI holds more than 700 positions.