Rent collections for key property types decreased on average by 7% in May – with industrial falling by up to 10% over the prior month, according to a new survey of NAREIM members.

NAREIM members reported that, in aggregate, May rent collections remained steady month-over-month with the average portfolio-wide rent collection at 83%. A NAREIM survey in mid-April reported rent collections at 84%.

However, when asked to provide a deeper dive into the performance of the major property types, May rent collections decreased on average by 7% compared to April. Industrial rent collections declined the most month-over-month with collections down more than 10%, while multifamily collections decreased the least with 2.6%.

The survey, conducted between May 10 and May 21, involved 18 participants with an average portfolio size of $9.6bn. Participants were reporting updated April collections and May collections.

NAREIM members can expect May rent collection figures to increase over the coming weeks, after survey participants confirmed April rent collections increased on average 200bp between mid-April and mid-May, with industrial leading the way followed by office and multifamily. Only retail saw a decrease in rent collections between mid-April and mid-May, declining just over 1%.

NAREIM members can access the full survey results here.

Other key highlights from the survey, include:

• Four in 10 real estate investment managers expect June rent collections to be better or the same as those collected in April.

• All managers expect to deal with rent relief requests through rent deferrals in the long-term, although 6% of managers are applying deposit to deal with relief requests in the short-term.

• Key takeaways from real-time tenant conversations:

• Tenants with illegitimate requests ultimately paid April rents by the end of the month and have already paid May rents. Those that have made blanket requests for relief are unwilling to provide the financial statements or evidence of hardship to support their relief requests.

• While larger, well-capitalized tenants are aiming to gain a competitive advantage during the Covid-19 crisis, mom and pop tenants need the most help.

• Small businesses continue to wait longer for their paycheck protection/Small Business Administration loans, which are being processed faster at smaller and regional banks versus the larger, national institutions. “Tenants are just overall concerned and want to know their landlord is willing to work with them,” said one NAREIM member.

NAREIM members often reach out to ask their peers about pressing concerns impacting their business. Rent collections and relief in the age of coronavirus is one such challenge facing the real estate investment management industry today and we invited members to share their best practices regarding rent collections in May, final collections in April and expectations for rent collections in June. May rent collection survey: A total of 18 member organizations submitted data between May 10 and May 21, 2020 on portfolios with an average AUM of $9.6bn (and ranging in size between $9m and $28.6bn). All survey answers are provided anonymously - to both fellow members and NAREIM.

For more information on the surveys please contact Zoe Hughes, CEO, zhughes@nareim.org.