The Best REITs to Buy

Real estate investment trusts, also known as REITs, typically offer high yields, making them appealing choices for income investors. REITs are interest rate-sensitive, meaning they tend to outperform the broad market when interest rates fall and underperform when rates rise.

In the year to date, the Morningstar US Real Estate Index rose 4.82%, while the Morningstar US Market Index gained 17.02%.

The 6 Best REIT Stocks to Buy Now

These were the most undervalued REIT stocks that Morningstar’s analysts cover as of Dec. 2, 2025.

1. Americold Logistics COLD
2. Park Hotels & Resorts PK
3. Pebblebrook Hotel Trust PEB
4. Healthpeak Properties DOC
5. Invitation Homes INVH
6. Realty Income O

To come up with our list of the best REIT stocks to buy now, we screened for:

• REIT stocks that are undervalued, as measured by our price/fair value metric.
• Stocks that earn narrow or wide Morningstar Economic Moat Ratings, as well as companies that do not have a moat. We think companies with narrow economic moat ratings can fight off competitors for at least 10 years; wide-moat companies should remain competitive for 20 years or more.

Here’s a little more about each of the best REIT stocks to buy, including commentary from the Morningstar analysts who cover each company. All data is as of Dec. 2, 2025.

Americold Logistics

• Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: None
• Forward Dividend Yield: 8.27%
• Industry: REIT—Industrial

Americold Logistics holds the first spot as the least expensive company on our list of the best REITs to buy, trading 57% below our fair value estimate of $26 per share. Americold Realty Trust Inc is the world’s second-largest owner and operator of temperature-controlled warehouses behind privately held Lineage Logistics. It offers a forward dividend yield of 8.27%.

Americold Realty owns and operates cold storage warehouses that mainly store perishable food products but also other temperature-sensitive items like pharmaceuticals, florals, and chemicals. The company’s main line of business is the warehouse rent and storage segment, which accounted for 90% of the company’s revenue in 2024. While these warehouses vary in size and exact temperature, more than four-fifths of Americold’s warehouses are in North America, and we consider Americold’s facilities among the best in terms of quality and location. The company provides ancillary warehouse services like flash freezing and picking/packing to serve, attract, and retain customers. The company also has a transportation services segment where it brokers, manages, and operates transportation for its customers. The remainder of the revenue comes from the third-party-managed segment, where it operates facilities on behalf of customers who own cold storage space but do not have expertise in operating it.

Historically, many temperature-controlled warehouses were independently owned, and there was little institutional interest in the space. There was also little speculative development because of the complexity of construction, high initial capital investment, unique requirements of every tenant, and the modest growth profile of the industry. Recently, though, many deep-pocketed institutions have entered the space—most prominently, Lineage Logistics.

The warehouse portfolio of the company had been materially affected due to lower commodity stock levels after the pandemic. The warehouse services segment has also been struggling partly because of the difficulties in attracting and retaining workers at cold storage facilities. While fundamentals started recovering at the end of 2022 as food manufacturers ramped up production, the sector is again coming under pressure as demand weakens due to higher food prices and excess capacity weighs on occupancy. While the near-term outlook looks very difficult, the long-term consolidation story for the sector is intact. The firm should be able to achieve mid-single-digit net operating income growth in the upcoming decade.

Read more about Americold Logistics here.

Park Hotels & Resorts

• Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: None
• Forward Dividend Yield: 9.46%
• Industry: REIT — Hotel & Motel

Next on our list of the best REITs to invest in now, Park Hotels & Resorts invests in the hotel & motel industry. Park Hotels & Resorts owns upper-upscale and luxury hotels, with 22,395 rooms across 36 hotels in the United States. This cheap REIT stock trades 50% below our fair value estimate of $21 per share.

Park Hotels & Resorts is the second-largest US lodging REIT, focusing on the upper-upscale hotel segment. The company was spun out of Hilton Worldwide Holdings at the start of 2017. Since then, it has sold all its international hotels and 25 lower-quality US hotels to focus on high-quality assets in domestic and gateway markets. Park completed the acquisition of Chesapeake Lodging Trust in September 2019; this complementary portfolio of 18 high-quality, upper-upscale hotels has diversified Park’s hotel brands to include Marriott, Hyatt, and IHG brands.

The coronavirus pandemic significantly affected the operating results of Park’s hotels, with high-double-digit declines in revenue per available room and negative hotel EBITDA in 2020. The rapid rollout of vaccinations across the country allowed leisure travel to recover quickly, leading to significant growth in 2021 and 2022. However, average daily rate growth has been decelerating year over year since then, and comparable occupancy plateaued in 2024 at a level approximately 7% below 2019 levels. While reduced international tourism will present another headwind for luxury and upper-upscale hotels, we think the company should continue to see modest growth as renovations completed over the past few years drive revPAR growth above the industry average for several years, allowing operating margins to slightly exceed the levels achieved in 2019.

The hotel industry faces several long-term headwinds. Supply has been elevated in many of the largest markets, and that is likely to continue for a few more years. Online travel agencies and online hotel reviews facilitate immediate price discovery for consumers, preventing Park from pushing rate increases. Lastly, while the shadow supply created by Airbnb doesn’t directly compete with Park on most nights, it does limit Park’s ability to push rates on nights where it would typically generate its highest profits.

Read more about Park Hotels & Resorts here.

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust

• Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: None
• Forward Dividend Yield: 0.36%
• Industry: REIT — Hotel & Motel

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust currently owns upper-upscale and luxury hotels with 11,933 rooms across 46 hotels in the United States. Pebblebrook Hotel Trust is 44% undervalued relative to our $20 fair value estimate. This cheap REIT stock operates in the hotel & motel industry and offers a 0.36% forward dividend yield.

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust is the largest US lodging REIT focused on owning independent and boutique hotels. After Pebblebrook merged with LaSalle Hotel Properties in November 2018, the company owns 46 upper upscale hotels with 11,933 rooms, located primarily in urban gateway markets. Historically, Pebblebrook’s combined portfolio has had a higher revenue per available room price point and EBITDA margin than its hotel REIT peers.

The merger with LaSalle provided Pebblebrook with some new avenues to create value for shareholders. The company doubled in size while taking on only a portion of the general and administrative costs, making the combined company more efficient. Pebblebrook CEO Jon Bortz previously ran LaSalle and acquired many of the hotels in that portfolio. His knowledge of those hotels combined with management’s demonstrated ability to maximize margins should allow him to implement cost-saving initiatives that drive up margins.

The coronavirus pandemic hit the operating results of Pebblebrook’s hotels significantly with high-double-digit revPAR declines and negative hotel EBITDA in 2020. However, the rapid rollout of vaccinations across the country allowed leisure travel to recover quickly, leading to significant growth in 2021 and 2022. Growth decelerated in 2023 and 2024, and lower international tourism has weighed on results in 2025. However, we think Pebblebrook should begin to see slightly better growth in 2026, as renovations executed across its portfolio were finished in late 2023 and 2024, which should help drive revPAR growth above the industry average.

However, several factors will remain headwinds for hotels over the long term. Supply has been elevated in many of the biggest markets, and that is likely to continue for a few more years. Online travel agencies and online hotel reviews create immediate price discovery for consumers, preventing a hotel from pushing rate increases even though it is nearing full occupancy on many nights. Last, while the shadow supply created by Airbnb doesn’t directly compete most nights, it does limit Pebblebrook’s ability to push rates on nights when it would have typically generated its highest profits.

Read more about Pebblebrook Hotel Trust here.

Healthpeak Properties

• Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: None
• Forward Dividend Yield: 6.76%
• Industry: REIT — Healthcare Facilities

Healthpeak Properties is 34% undervalued relative to our $27.50 fair value estimate. This cheap REIT stock operates in the healthcare facilities industry and offers a 6.76% forward dividend yield.

The top healthcare real estate stands to benefit disproportionately from the Affordable Care Act. With an increased focus on higher-quality care being performed in lower-cost settings, the best owners and operators in the industry, which can provide better outcomes while driving greater efficiencies, should see demand funneled to them from the best healthcare systems. Additionally, the baby boomer generation is starting to enter its senior years, and the 80-plus population, an age range that spends more than 4 times on healthcare per capita than the national average, should almost double in size over the next 10 years. Long term, the best healthcare companies are well positioned to take advantage of these industry tailwinds.

Given the significant challenges that the coronavirus presented to the senior housing industry, Healthpeak made the strategic decision in 2020 to dispose of most of the company’s senior housing assets in multiple transactions for around $4 billion in total proceeds. As a result, Healthpeak’s life science and medical office portfolios are now prominently featured in the company’s portfolio as the proceeds from the senior housing sales were reinvested into these two sectors. Healthpeak has high-quality assets in top markets that attract credit-grade tenants in both segments, so we believe it makes sense to strategically focus the company on the segments where it has an advantage. The company also completed a merger with Physicians Realty Trust in a $5 billion deal that closed in March 2024, adding 16 million square feet of high-quality medical office buildings that complement the company’s own portfolio. Following the merger, Healthpeak derives approximately 53% of the company’s net operating income from medical office, 36% from life science, and 11% from a small portfolio of continuing-care retirement communities and other triple-net assets. Despite the possibility of further changes to the ACA, we think any changes will still result in a coordinated value- and outcome-based system that will provide Healthpeak’s current portfolio with strong tailwinds.

Read more about Healthpeak Properties here.

Invitation Homes

• Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: None
• Forward Dividend Yield: 4.16%
• Industry: REIT—Residential

Next on our list of the best REITs to invest in now, Invitation Homes invests in the residential industry. Invitation Homes owns a portfolio of over 85,000 single-family rental homes. This cheap REIT stock trades 32% below our fair value estimate of $41 per share.

Invitation Homes is the largest single-family rental real estate investment trust with a portfolio of over 85,000 homes. The portfolio is geographically diversified across 17 US markets with approximately 39% of its homes in the Western United States, 33% in Florida, and 19% in other Southeastern markets. The cost of renting is lower than homeownership in most of the portfolio’s markets, which supports high occupancy and should allow the company to pass along significant rent increases without much pushback. The company’s size gives it some economies of scale in terms of controlling costs as it can hire its own maintenance and repair technicians to service its homes, allowing it to maintain higher operating margins than smaller competitors that need to contract out the same services. The company regularly recycles capital by selling noncore assets and using the proceeds on higher-quality acquisitions with better growth prospects.

Invitation Homes focuses on owning newer homes in the starter and move-up segments, which are typically around $350,000 in price and less than 1,800 square feet. These homes typically attract a younger demographic. This coincides with a generation of millennials who have long delayed many adult milestones but started to move to the suburbs during to the pandemic, and this trend will likely continue over the next decade as they age and start families. Given that millennials typically lack the necessary capital for a down payment, many have chosen to rent single-family homes when they move to the suburbs. This increase in demand combined with slowing supply due to high construction prices should promote solid fundamental growth for several years.

However, the long-term outlook for this segment is not as rosy as the next few years may appear. The baby boomers are also aging and will eventually return their housing stock to the market. The increased supply will either lower housing prices to the point that renters can afford to purchase a home or create new rental housing stock that will compete with Invitation Homes’ portfolio. Ultimately, we don’t think the single-family rental market will support growth above inflationary increases.

Read more about Invitation Homes here.

Realty Income

• Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: None
• Forward Dividend Yield: 5.62%
• Industry: REIT—Retail

Realty Income rounds out our list of the best REITs to buy, trading at a 23% discount to our $75 fair value estimate. Realty Income owns roughly 15,600 properties, most of which are freestanding, single-tenant, triple-net-leased retail properties. This affordable REIT stock focuses on retail and offers a 5.62% forward dividend yield.

Realty Income is the largest triple-net REIT in the United States, with over 15,600 properties that mainly house retail tenants. The company describes itself as “The Monthly Dividend Company,” and its line of business and operating metrics make its dividend one of the most stable sources of income for investors. Even though about 80% of Realty Income’s tenants are in retail, most are focused on defensive segments, with characteristics such as being service-oriented, naturally protected against e-commerce pressures, or resistant to economic downturns. Additionally, the triple-net lease structure places the burden of all operational risk and cost on the tenant and requires the tenant to make capital expenditures to maintain the property rather than the landlord. These leases are often long term, frequently 15 years with additional extension options, which provides Realty Income a steady stream of rental income. Coverage ratios are also very high, so tenants are healthy and unlikely to request rent concessions, even during downturns. The steady, stable stream of revenue has allowed Realty Income to be one of only two REITs to be members of the S&P High-Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index and have a credit rating of A- or better. This makes Realty Income one of the most dependable investments for income-oriented investors.

Stability comes at the cost of economic profit, however. The lease terms include very low annual rent increases around 1%, which helps keep the coverage ratio high but severely limits internal growth for the company. Therefore, to grow, Realty Income must rely on acquisitions. The company has executed over $28 billion in acquisitions since the start of 2021 at average cap rates near 7%. However, rising interest rates over the past three years have increased the cost to fund external growth. While the company was able to maintain a consistent acquisition cap rate spread above interest rates on debt, we are concerned that the company won’t be able to continuously find deals at high cap rates and Realty Income will be left with just a low internal growth story.

Read more about Realty Income here.

How to Find More of the Best REIT Stocks to Buy

Investors who’d like to extend their search for top REIT stocks can do the following:

• Review Morningstar’s comprehensive list of real estate stocks to investigate further.
• Stay up to date on the real estate sector’s performance, key earnings reports, and more with Morningstar’s real estate sector page.
• Read Morningstar’s Guide to Stock Investing to learn how our approach to investing can inform your stock-picking process.
• Use the Morningstar Investor screener to build a shortlist of REIT stocks to research and watch.