FAF vs VNQ: Correlation
First American Corporation (New) (FAF) and Vanguard Real Estate ETF (VNQ) show a strong relationship: their 3-year correlation of weekly returns is 0.61.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are FAF and VNQ?
On 3 years of weekly data the FAF/VNQ correlation comes out at 0.61, strong. Lately the two have drifted apart, with the 1-year correlation at 0.40 versus 0.61 over 3 years. The 5-year figure is 0.62, and annualized covariance runs at 261.4 %².
By 3-year correlation, VNQ places #4 of the 11 assets tracked against FAF. Over the last 12 months FAF came out ahead by 5.4 percentage points (+15.7% against +10.3%). Note the risk asymmetry: FAF runs 1.5 times the annualized volatility of the other leg, so equal-weighting the two is not an equal-risk position.
How is this computed?
Pearson correlation on weekly returns: ρ(A,B) = cov(rA, rB) / (σA · σB), over windows of 52, 156 and 260 weeks. Covariance is annualized (×52) and expressed in %². Full definitions on the methodology page.
FAF vs VNQ: side by side
| FAF (First American Corporation (New)) | VNQ (Vanguard Real Estate ETF) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +15.7% | +10.3% |
| 5-year return | +24.3% | +9.5% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 25.7% | 16.6% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 0.72 | 0.59 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -22.1% | -17.5% |
| Market cap | $7.6B | – |
| P/E (trailing) | 10.2 | – |
| Dividend yield | 2.99% | 3.51% |
| Expense ratio | – | 0.13% |
| Assets under management | – | $73.1B |
| Sector / category | US Listed | ETF · Real Estate |
VNQ is a Real Estate fund from Vanguard: $73.1B under management, 140 holdings, a 0.13% expense ratio, a 3.51% trailing dividend yield.
Year-by-year returns
| Year | FAF | VNQ |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -30.6% | -26.3% |
| 2023 | +27.7% | +11.9% |
| 2024 | +0.4% | +4.8% |
| 2025 | +1.9% | +3.2% |
| 2026 | +23.3% | +12.5% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are FAF and VNQ good diversifiers for each other?
To a limited degree. At 0.61 the two still catch most of the same waves, so the pair smooths returns a little without insulating either from a shared selloff.
FAQ
What is the correlation between FAF and VNQ?
Using weekly returns as of 2026-08-27: 0.61 over 3 years, with 0.40 over the last year and 0.62 over 5 years.
Is VNQ a good diversifier for FAF?
To a limited degree. At 0.61 the two still catch most of the same waves, so the pair smooths returns a little without insulating either from a shared selloff.
What does a correlation of 0.61 mean?
On the −1 to +1 scale, 0.61 describes how much the two returns move together: +1 is lockstep, 0 is independence, negative values mean opposite directions. It says nothing about which performed better.
Use this data
$ curl https://www.pairbook.io/api/v1/pairs/faf-vs-vnq.json
Markdown for the live badge, attribution link included:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/faf-vs-vnq/)
Free with attribution; caching and terms are described in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: FAF correlations · VNQ correlations
