iStock A growth industry, say analysts, but is that enough to outweigh interest-rate risk and other concerns?Is it time for another look at a beaten-down sector? In recent years, investors have avoided real estate investment trusts like the plague — or like the half-empty malls in Rust Belt towns, anyway. Concerns about rising interest rates, an aging real estate cycle and the “Amazon effect” have punished REITs: the Vanguard REIT ETF VNQ, +0.49% is up 1.7% for the year to date, creamed by the 18.6% gain for the S&P 500 SPX, +0.15% . But now, like the merchandise at a department store going-out-of-business sale, REITs may be cheap enough to warrant another look. And smart diversification means there are plenty of reasons to be in all kinds of real estate, some analysts believe. “There are some concerns around commercial valuations being expensive, but we’re still in a slow and steady recovery,” said Michael Underhill, chief investment officer at Pewaukee, Wis.-based Capital Innovations, LLC. “Most investors are under-allocated to the real estate space.” The business models that underlie individual REITs should outweigh considerations about interest-rate and economic cycle risk, Underhill believes. “Every REIT is different because of the underlying assets as well as the underlying leverage or debt,” he said.via