US equity real estate investment trusts barely saw any movement in average short interest in August, posting a 3-basis-point drop to 3.6% of shares outstanding, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

Regional malls show largest drop in short interest

Regional mall REITs had the biggest drop in average short interest across all property types, posting a 60-basis-point drop from the previous month to 4.8% of shares outstanding as of Aug. 31.

The sector's recent drop was mostly due to the fall in Macerich Co.'s short interest relative to shares outstanding, declining 1.6 percentage points to 8.1% of the regional mall owner's shares outstanding, which was also among the 10 biggest decreases in short interest across all US REITs during the month.

The two remaining regional mall REITs, CBL & Associates Properties Inc. and Simon Property Group Inc., also reported drops in short interest of about 9 basis points and 8 basis points, respectively, during the same period.

The hotel sector had the second-largest decline in average short interest by August-end, down 22 basis points to 5.3% of shares outstanding. It was followed by the self-storage segment, with a 21-basis-point drop to 2.2% of shares outstanding.

On the other hand, the office sector saw the largest gain in average short interest across all property types, up 22 basis points over the preceding month to 6.4% of shares outstanding as of August-end. Communications REITs followed with an increase of 17 basis points to 3.1% of shares outstanding.

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REITs with largest change in short interest

Diversified REIT JBG Smith Properties logged the largest increase in short interest in August, with a 3.6-percentage-point hike to 12.1% of its shares outstanding. Short interest for shopping center landlord Wheeler REIT Inc. also increased about 3.6 percentage points during the month.

On the other side of the spectrum, hotel-focused Pebblebrook Hotel Trust had the largest decline in short interest, down 3.4 percentage points to 17.6% of its outstanding shares.

REITs with largest short positions

Office-focused SL Green Realty Corp. remains the most-shorted US REIT stock, with 16.9 million shares sold short as of Aug. 31, or 26.2% of its shares outstanding. Healthcare REIT Medical Properties Trust Inc. and hotel landlord Pebblebrook Hotel Trust followed, with short interests of 21.5% and 17.6%, respectively.