The Most Surprising Dividend Play of 2010
Published Tue, 23 Nov 2010 on The Motley Fool

If you asked most investors where to find a source of strength in the currently sputtering economy, the last thing you would have expected to hear is the commercial real estate sector. But commercial real estate investment trusts (REITs) have not only survived the carnage in real estate over the past several years. They've started to recover -- and they're rewarding the investors who stayed the course with them through the downturn with higher dividends. Forget about the next shoeNot so long ago, commercial real estate looked like it might be the next problem area for the economy at large. Anecdotal experience certainly supported that thesis; if your area's anything like mine, you probably still see a number of vacancies at strip malls, shopping centers, and office buildings. Shares of commercial REITs got smacked during the financial crisis, and the credit crunch certainly put big pressure on real-estate-related companies to batten down the hatches and make the best of a tough environment.... Read more