REIT

REIT stands for Real Estate Investment Trust. It is a company that owns income-earning commercial property and lets ordinary investors own a slice of it by buying units on the stock exchange.

A REIT earns rent from its properties and passes most of that income to unit-holders as regular distributions. The unit price can also rise or fall on the exchange. So returns come from a mix of rental income and price movement, and both can vary.

They are regulated by the market regulator SEBI and are easier to buy and sell than property, but they are not risk-free. The unit price moves with the property market and interest rates, and rental income can fall if occupancy drops. Treat a REIT as a market-linked investment.