Current Development and Future Expectation of Euro-REITs

Real Estate Investment Trusts(REITs)is an investment tool designed based on commercial trust principle. According to the principle, trust institutions issue real estate investment trust beneficiary certificates to raise funds through public offerings or private placement, and invest the raised funds into real estate projects, related real estates rights, or real estate securities, etc. The profits gained from the investment are allocated to the investors according to the proportion of their investment. Compared with other investment approaches, REITs possesses of advantages such as strong liquidity, good stability, high level of benefits, and diversified risks, etc. Therefore, REITs model is widely applied in over 20 countries in the short space of several decades. This paper introduces the development of US REITs in USA, and based on the modernization process, conducts comparative analysis on REITs system in EU countries. Finally, it evaluates the necessity and the possibility of establishing a unified real estate investment trusts (REITs) in EU. The paper also discusses the difficulties we are facing and the problems to be solved.