“Domestic REIT investors have four ETFs to choose among. Though there are more exchange-traded funds available, the big four offer diversification, liquidity and low fees. They are: iShares Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate(IYR), iShares Cohen & Steers Realty Majors(ICF), Vanguard REIT(VNQ) and SPDR Dow Jones REIT(RWR),”  Don Dion Reports From The Street.

“All four of the big real estate investment trust ETFs have a share price around $40 to $50, which makes a comparison of their volume straightforward. Over the past three months, IYR is by far the most popular ETF, with volume of 24 million shares a day. VNQ follows with 3 million, ICF trades 1 million, and RWR sees 0.8 million shares change hands each day. RWR costs 0.25% in fees; VNQ costs 0.15%; IYR costs 0.48% and ICF costs 0.35%. RWR has $1.3 billion in assets; VNQ had $3.4 billion at the end of August; IYR has $2.9 billion in assets; and ICF has $1.7 billion,” Dion Reports.

“Since the funds tend to have similar allocations, fund flows into one or the other won’t have a disproportionate affect on the REIT market, though if ICF were more popular, it would favor the large companies over the smaller ones. For a buy-and-hold, long-term position, the Vanguard fund is the best bet. You won’t have up-to-the-day portfolio updates, but if you’re buying and holding, it’s not critical, and the savings from low fees will add up over time. Investors who used a hedge strategy may prefer to short IYR, because it has higher fees, although different strategies may make better use of another ETF,” Dion Reports.

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Here is a detailed look at the 4 Real Estate ETF’s below:

The investment (IYR) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index. The fund generally invests at least 90% of assets in securities of the underlying index and depositary receipts representing securities of the underlying index. It may invest the remainder of assets in securities not included in its underlying index but which BGFA believes will help the fund track underlying index, and in futures contracts, options on futures contracts, options and swaps as well as cash and cash equivalents, including shares of money market funds advised by BGFA. It is nondiversified.

The investment (ICF) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Cohen & Steers Realty Majors index. The fund generally invests at least 90% assets in securities of the underlying index and depositary receipts representing securities of the underlying index. It may invest the remainder of its assets in securities not included in its underlying index but which BGFA believes will help the fund track its underlying index, and in futures contracts, options on futures contracts, options and swaps as well as cash and cash equivalents. The fund is nondiversified.

The investment (VNQ) seeks to provide a high level of income and moderate long-term capital appreciation. The fund normally invests approximately 98% of assets in stocks issued by equity real estate investment trusts (REITs) in an attempt to track the investment performance of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) US REIT Index.

The investment (RWR) seeks to provide investment results that, before expenses, correspond generally to the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Select REIT index. The fund uses a passive management strategy designed to track the total return performance of the Wilshire REIT index. The subadviser seeks a correlation of 0.95 or better between the fund’s performance and the performance of the index. It is nondiversified.

TOP 10 HOLDINGS (RWR) ( 47.06% OF TOTAL ASSETS)

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