Answer

The United States Congress first created Real Estate Investment Trusts, “REITs”, in the 1960s, giving individuals the opportunity to invest in large property businesses. 

Go to the NYU Business Library's Company & Financial Information section for links to useful resources including links to the following suggested resources: 

ValueLine:  Search REIT in the dashboard for overviews on the topic and current articles.  Use Browse Research and choose the Industry Screen drop down, REIT, which will provide a list of entities.  Click on a REIT entity name for full tear sheet information. 

Hoover's: Provides Industry related information as well as individual REIT data. It also provides a very useful list of industry websites.

In addition, the SEC.gov provides an overview on REITs in its Fast Answers Guides.

You may also want to consult the NYU Real Estate Research Guide.

In addition, you can find information and data accessible on the Nareit (National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts) website.