Best REIT Stocks in India (2025)

Overview of the Top REIT Stocks

Brookfield India Real Estate Trust REIT

Brookfield India Real Estate Trust is a publicly listed REIT focused on owning and operating high-quality, income-producing commercial office spaces across India’s top cities. It targets Grade-A office assets, offering stable cash flows and long-term capital appreciation opportunities. To get an update on market trends, you can check the Brookfield REIT share price.

Embassy Office Parks REIT

Embassy Office Parks REIT is India’s first listed REIT, specialising in premium office parks and commercial real estate. It owns and manages large-scale business campuses and Grade-A office spaces, catering to multinational and blue-chip tenants in major Indian cities.

Mindspace Business Parks REIT

Mindspace Business Parks REIT owns and develops integrated business parks and premium commercial office assets in key Indian markets. It focuses on high-quality office spaces, providing modern infrastructure and amenities to global and domestic corporates, ensuring robust rental income streams.

Nexus Select Trust

Nexus Select Trust is India’s first retail-focused REIT, investing in high-quality retail real estate assets across prime urban locations. It owns and operates shopping malls and mixed-use retail spaces, targeting steady rental income from a diverse range of consumer and retail tenants. You can use Tickertape Stock Screener to access a list of REITs in India and analyse stocks with over 200 filters.

What is REIT Stock?

REIT stocks represent shares of Indian Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) that are publicly traded. These stocks reflect investments in portfolios of income-generating properties. REITs in India are subject to regulatory oversight by SEBI, ensuring adherence to specific guidelines for transparency and investor protection in the market.

Difference Between REIT and Real Estate

Physical real estate is a tangible asset you can use, unlike financial assets such as equity and debt, which exist only as investments in your portfolio. However, investing directly in real estate has hurdles that make it difficult for most people, including:

You need a lot of money up front to buy property. Besides the purchase price, you must pay for repairs, maintenance, and upgrades every year.
Selling property is hard. You may wait months or even years to find a buyer and complete the sale, making it tough to access your money or adjust your investments quickly.
You must manage the property yourself or hire someone. This means finding tenants, collecting rent, handling repairs, and following local rules, tasks that can be both expensive and time-consuming, especially with many properties.
The property's value depends on its location. If the area loses population, changes zoning rules, or has fewer job opportunities, your property can lose value.

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) help you overcome most of these problems. With REITs, you can invest in real estate using much smaller amounts of money. You also gain diversification, professional management, and the ability to sell your investment quickly. REITs let you invest in income-generating properties like offices, malls, homes, hotels, and warehouses, making real estate investment easier and more flexible.

Who Can Invest in Indian REITs?

Any investor (domestic/foreign/retail/institutional) can buy REIT units in India.
No minimum trading lot size; previous minimum trading lot size of Rs. 50,000 and 200 units done away with now.
Investors can purchase REIT units through a Demat account, similar to how they would purchase shares in a company.
Indian REIT units can be bought/sold freely on either NSE or BSE – online or through a broker.

How To Analyse Which REITs is Good?

An investor considering REITs must assess them based on the following factors:

1. Reputation and Quality of the Developer: REITs are managed by professional teams, and investors should evaluate the quality and experience of the management team. Factors to consider include the team's track record, investment philosophy, and aligning interests with shareholders.
2. Property Types: The type of properties held by the REIT, which may include offices, malls, hotels, warehouses, and residential properties. This would determine the yield of the properties, the term of the contracts, and the risks involved in managing them.
3. Quality of the Tenants: A significant and stable component of return from REITs is rental income earned from the tenants. Thus the health and financial strength of the tenants is of critical importance.
4. Diversity of the Tenant Base: High percentage of total revenue from a single tenant or a high percentage of tenants in the same sector would present a concentration risk for the REIT.
5. Yield Offered: A 3-4% yield would be too low, while 10%+ may be too good to be true.
6. Weighted Average Lease Expiry (WALE): This refers to the number of years left for the lease to expire. Generally, a longer WALE implies that the future income is more forecastable and stable. However, sometimes a smaller WALE may be good if the in-place rents are low, and new leases can be negotiated with an aggressive escalation.
7. Occupancy Percentage: Vacant properties do not earn rent. Thus higher the occupancy, the better it is.
8. Tenant Retention Percentage: This refers to the percentage of tenants who decide to renew their leases once their lease expires. Higher retention is generally good as it leads to lesser downtime and lower re-leasing charges.
9. Leased Area vs Development Area: Future plans of the REIT in terms of expansion and new properties.
10. Geographic Diversification: It may help to eliminate a city-specific risk.
11. Leverage: This refers to the level of debt raised by a REIT to fund its investments. Lesser is generally better.

About the REITs Sector

1. Access to Commercial Property: Prior to REITs, investing in commercial properties required significant capital, but with REITs, individuals can invest and earn dividends through rental yields at a lower cost.
2. Regulation and Evolution: REIT regulations were established in 2014; however, India’s first REIT emerged five years later. The sector has now been in existence for approximately five years.
3. Market Value: As of May 14, 2025, the total market capitalisation of REITs India exceeded ₹98,000 cr, approximately equivalent to $11.5 bn USD. Despite this, the trading volume remains lower compared to many small-cap stocks.

Future Outlook of the Real Estate Investment Trusts in India

1. Growth Potential: The REIT market is forecasted to expand beyond office spaces into asset classes such as industrial properties, data centres, hospitality, healthcare, and education.
2. Policy Support: Policy measures are promoting growth in the REIT market, particularly in India, where over 50% of Grade A office space is considered REIT-worthy.
3. New Listings Expected: The investors are expected to see the listing of at least four new REITs for retail investors India in the coming years, which could improve asset quality and attract both retail and institutional investors.
4. Stock Market Performance Influence: The timing of these new REIT listings may depend on the performance of the stock markets, influencing market conditions and investor sentiment.

How does a Company Qualify as a REIT?

To qualify as a REIT, a company must meet specific criteria, including the following:

1. The entity must be structured as a business trust or a corporation.
2. The company must offer fully transferable shares.
3. Management should be carried out by a board of trustees or directors.
4. The company must have at least 100 shareholders.
5. No more than 5 individuals should hold 50% of the company’s shares during any taxable year.
6. At least 90% of the taxable income must be distributed as dividends.
7. A minimum of 75% of gross income should come from rental income or mortgage interest.
8. No more than 20% of the company's assets should consist of stock in taxable REIT subsidiaries.
9. At least 75% of the company’s assets must be invested in real estate.
10. A minimum of 95% of the total income of the REIT must be reinvested.