REITs are classified by their primary asset types and investment strategies:
These purchase, manage, and lease physical properties. Revenue is generated from rents and long-term capital appreciation of physical assets.
These originate or purchase mortgages and mortgage-backed securities (MBS). They earn revenue from the net interest margin between their short-term borrowing costs and long-term mortgage assets. mREITs behave like highly leveraged fixed-income funds and are extremely sensitive to interest rate hikes and credit spread shocks.
These combine physical equity ownership with mortgage financing.