Strong share price rises from the retail sector helped Australian real estate investment trusts (A-REITs) generate the best quarterly return in a year.
Vicinity Centres, Charter Hall Retail REIT, Scentre Group, Westfield Corp, Shopping Centres Australasia and BWP Trust were among the top performers for the   March quarter. 
The S&P ASX 300 Index rose 5.42 per cent over the period, versus a 5.5 per cent decline by the broader equities index. Global REITs rose 4.8 per cent.
A fall in government bond yields over   January and   February also contributed to the real estate sector's run. Lower bond yields have historically boded well for real estate.
Unsurprisingly, the top performer was Astro Japan Property Group. Shares in the trust surged in early   March after the group, which owns $700 million worth of Japanese real estate, unveiled plans to sell the portfolio to a new Tokyo-listed real estate investment trust and pay out investors.
The strong result from shopping mall groups such as Vicinity Centres (+12 per cent), Westfield Corp (+7 per cent) and Scentre Group (+7 per cent) came as the annual "Big Guns Survey" from Shopping Centre News in   March showed many of Australia's top shopping centres increased their turnover by 5 per cent or more last year.
Chadstone in Melbourne, jointly owned by Vicinity Centres and Gandel Group, as well as Westfield Sydney and Westfield Bondi Junction all topped $1 billion in sales in 2015.
It also follows strengthening retail sales evidenced in the half-year results of the retail trusts.
In the industrial space, Goodman Group (+6 per cent), sometimes dubbed the "Westfield of industrial", finished the quarter up 5 per cent. The logistics heavyweight in   March agreed to split from its Brazilian partner WTorre and take 100 per cent of the operating platform and full ownership of several assets.
Elsewhere, office trusts DEXUS Property Group and Investa Office Fund both ended the   March quarter higher, but this was fuelled by current corporate activity between the two.
Laggards included Cromwell Property Group (-0.4 per cent), Mirvac Group (-4 per cent) and Abacus Property Group (-5 per cent).
Mirvac is still being impacted by fears over the apartment market.