How the Real Estate ETFs Stack Up

Over the past five years, VNQ leads with an annualized return of -3.5%, followed by RWR, also -3.5%; ICF -3.6%; and IYR -4.4%.

Since the funds tend to have similar allocations, fund flows into one or the other won't have a disproportionate affect on the REIT market, though if ICF were more popular, it would favor the large companies over the smaller ones.

For a buy-and-hold, long-term position, the Vanguard fund is the best bet. You won't have up-to-the-day portfolio updates, but if you're buying and holding, it's not critical, and the savings from low fees will add up over time.

Investors who used a hedge strategy may prefer to short IYR, because it has higher fees, although different strategies may make better use of another ETF.

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