REITs well placed as residential recovers AUSTRALIAN real estate investment trusts are tipped to make a comeback this year as the residential property market recovers and the surge in corporate activity continues. A steadier performance would mark a shift from the tough end to 2013, when returns were hit as a series of new floats weighed down performance. The rash of new issues saw A-REITs deliver a 7.1 per cent total return last year, lagging general equities, which returned 19.6 per cent.