REIT ETFs: The 10 Best Yields On The Market

Did you know there are such things as REIT ETFs? Exchange Traded Funds are known for tracking a variety of securities like stocks, indices, bonds, or commodities, one of which being real estate. In this way, while some ETFs invest their assets in real estate, others invest in real estate investment trust equities, becoming REIT ETFs.

A real estate investment trust is a security that behaves like a stock and invests directly in real estate via mortgages or by purchasing properties. REITs have many advantages like some tax exemptions, they offer high dividend yields to investors and they represent a much more convenient way to put your money into real estate, since they have a higher liquidity than physical real estate. According to the way in which a REIT invests we can differentiate between REITs that actually acquire properties and earn revenues from using their real estate (for example: renting), and REITs that deal with real estate mortgages.

Exchange Traded Funds are usually chosen by investors because of the diversification they provide combined with the possibility to speculate through ETF share price variation and lower costs and fees in comparison with other investment funds. However, choosing to invest in a REIT ETF or other real estate ETF has one more advantage which is a high dividend yield.

With this in mind, we have compiled a list of the ten highest paying real estate and REIT ETFs in terms of dividend yield, in a style similar to our list of short ETFs. Highlights from our list include iShares FTSE NAREIT Mortg.REITIn Fd(ETF) (NYSEARCA:REM) and ETRACS Monthly Pay 2XLeveraged Mortgage REIT ETN (NYSEARCA:MORL).

No. 10 iShares S&P Develpd ex US Prprty Indx Fd (NYSEARCA:WPS)

WPS data by YCharts

Dividend Yield: 5.64%
Assets Under Management: $170.4 million
Year-to-date return: -4%

No. 9 iShares FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate ex-U.S. Index Fund (NASDAQ:IFGL)

IFGL data by YCharts

Dividend Yield: 5.97%
Assets Under Management:  $678.6 million
Year-to-date return: -5.6%

No. 8 Vanguard International Equity Index Funds (NASDAQ:VNQI)

VNQI data by YCharts

Dividend Yield: 5.99%
Assets Under Management: $807.1 million
Year-to-date return: -4.5%

No. 7 ALPS ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:GRI)

GRI data by YCharts

Dividend Yield: 6.37%
Assets Under Management: $106.6 million
Year-to-date return: -2.3%

No. 6 ETRACS Monthly Pay 2XLeveraged Dow Jones International Real Estate ETN (NYSEARCA:RWXL)

RWXL data by YCharts

Dividend Yield: 6.51%
Assets Under Management: $11.4 million
Year-to-date return: -11.5%

No. 5 iShares FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Asia Index Fund (NASDAQ:IFAS)

IFAS data by YCharts

Dividend Yield: 6.53%
Assets Under Management: $32.5 million
Year-to-date return: -5.1%

No. 4 SPDR DJ International Real Estate ETF (NYSEARCA:RWX)

RWX data by YCharts

Dividend Yield: 6.78%
Assets Under Management: $3.7 billion
Year-to-date return: -5.7%

No. 3 WisdomTree Int Real Estate Fund (ETF) (NYSEARCA:DRW)

DRW data by YCharts

Dividend Yield: 10.9%
Assets Under Management: $125.3 million
Year-to-date return: -11.5%

No. 2 iShares FTSE NAREIT Mortg.REITIn Fd(ETF) (NYSEARCA:REM)

REM data by YCharts

Dividend Yield: 15.3%
Assets Under Management: $961.2 million
Year-to-date return: -13.5%

No. 1 ETRACS Monthly Pay 2XLeveraged Mortgage REIT ETN (NYSEARCA:MORL)

MORL data by YCharts

Dividend Yield: 23.49%
Assets Under Management: $82.2 million
Year-to-date return: -26.6%