The goal of this study is to analyze trends in the development of real estate investment trusts (REITS) in Russia and to identify promising vehicles for collective investment in real estate based on the study of foreign practice of countries with a developed REIT industry. Comparative analysis of primary and secondary information on the entities of the collective investment market, the financial and stock markets of Russia, and foreign REITs were used as research methods. The findings reveal that the Russian REIT market lags far behind the world and European levels. Evaluation of REIT regulations in countries with a developed financial market shows that regulators' attention should be focused on protecting investors' rights and creating conditions for expanding collective investment vehicles. © 2018 American Real Estate Society. All rights reserved.