In 1960 REITs was established by Congress as an amendment to the Cigar Excise Tax Extension.
Investors were allowed to buy shares in commercial real estate portfolios by the provision, which was earlier available only to wealthy individuals and through large financial intermediaries.
Even if REITs specializes in specific real estate sectors, the diversified and specialty REITs hold different types of properties in their portfolios, so it comprises both office and retail properties.
Apartment complexes, data centers, healthcare facilities, hotels, infrastructure are the properties included in a REIT portfolio, also fiber cables, cell towers, energy pipelines, office buildings, retail centers, self-storage, timberland, and warehouses can all be a form of properties.
Major securities exchanges have public trading of many REITs, and they can be bought and sold like stocks throughout the trading session by investors.
These REITs typically trade under big volume and are considered very liquid instruments.