Australian real estate stocks log best day in nearly a month; Citi stays cautiously constructive

** Australian real estate stocks .AXRE gain as much as 1.2% to clock their biggest gain since August 19

** Analysts at Citi remain cautiously constructive on select Australian REITs with real growth despite headwinds from rising interest rates and one or two further central bank hikes expected in 2026

** Strong rental growth is increasingly driving value, supporting cap rate compression in retail real estate and offsetting cap rate expansion in office, brokerage adds

** Shares of Goodman Group GMG.AX, Scentre SCG.AX and Dexus DXS.AX gain between 1.1% and 1.8%

** AXRE down 18.1% YTD