The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that investors are pouncing on beaten-up office real estate investment trusts like it's 2019, but the rebound is ignoring a lingering risk: Vacancies remain high. The Globe's David Berman writes that the recent gains are impressive and based on some encouraging news. Allied Properties REIT has rallied nearly 26 per cent since Oct. 25. The REIT's announcement this week confirming its 2024 distribution plan with a monthly payout of 15 cents per unit, unchanged from 2023, may have supported the view that Allied is weathering the office real estate storm reasonably well. Other, smaller Canadian REITs are moving higher, too. Dream Office REIT also has gained 26 per cent from its low. U.S. REITs are up, too. These rebounds do not come close to making up for the losses that demoralized many investors over the past two years, though. Rising interest rates raised borrowing costs and hammered property valuations. More worrying, office vacancy rates have soared, as many tenants gave up space amid entrenched hybrid work. In Canada, the national office vacancy rate in the third quarter increased to 18.2 per cent, a fresh three-decade high and up from 10.4 per cent in early 2020.