Indeed, real estate investment trusts have posted total returns of about 6.5% on average so far this year, with the dividend yield, which currently averages 5.3%, accounting for most of the gains, according to the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts Inc. of Washington. These are attractive yields at a time when the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index is down 6.4% and 10-year Treasuries are yielding just 3.8%.

Certain segments of the REIT universe offer significantly higher yields, such as lodging REITs, whose dividend yield averages 6.8%, and mortgage REITs, whose yield averages a whopping 13.9%. The dividend yield has helped lure investors back into REITs after the group fell off investors' radar screens last year.

"You saw the REITs get hit pretty bad in 2007 in the latter part of the year, and so part of [the rally] is a bounce-back," said analyst Tony Paolone of New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. Last year, REITs delivered returns of -17.8%, according to Nareit. Mr. Paolone said a rebound from last year's lows, short covering and the dividend yield have helped the group rally back this year.

"The yield has become more attractive as the Fed has pushed down short-term rates," said Michael Torres, chief executive of Adelante Capital Management LLC, an Oakland, Calif., boutique investment manager that invests in REITs. "You get the protection of the lease structure in real estate companies, where the big worry [in the broader market] is a deceleration of earnings and equity."

However, market experts caution investors to do their homework on the individual REITs in light of the volatile economic environment and not to jump blindly into the REITs that offer the biggest yields.

"I think you have to be very careful looking at just high-yield stocks," Mr. Torres said. It's important for investors to scrutinize a REIT to make sure it's generating sufficient capital to cover its dividend, he said. "You want some protection in a slowdown so that the company doesn't necessarily have to reduce the dividend in 2009 or 2010."

In general, REITs offering the biggest dividend yields have outperformed their peers and the broader market in 2008.