Sectors & IndustriesReal Estate

Best Real Estate Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top real estate stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Due Diligence Score. See the best real estate stocks to buy now, according to analyst forecasts for the real estate sector.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best real estate stocks to buy right now are:

Jones Lang Lasalle (NYSE:JLL) is the #1 top real estate stock out of 255 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Jones Lang Lasalle (NYSE:JLL) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Jones Lang Lasalle (NYSE:JLL) has a Due Diligence Score of 39, which is 13 points higher than the real estate sector average of 26. It passed 16 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Jones Lang Lasalle has seen its stock return 41.6% over the past year, overperforming other real estate stocks by 56 percentage points.

Jones Lang Lasalle has an average 1 year price target of $395.00, an upside of 21.34% from Jones Lang Lasalle's current stock price of $325.52.

Jones Lang Lasalle stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering Jones Lang Lasalle, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 25% have issued a Buy, 25% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Newmark Group (NASDAQ:NMRK) is the #2 top real estate stock out of 255 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Newmark Group (NASDAQ:NMRK) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: A.

Newmark Group (NASDAQ:NMRK) has a Due Diligence Score of 44, which is 18 points higher than the real estate sector average of 26. It passed 17 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Newmark Group has seen its stock return 50.36% over the past year, overperforming other real estate stocks by 65 percentage points.

Newmark Group has an average 1 year price target of $19.83, an upside of 19.48% from Newmark Group's current stock price of $16.60.

Newmark Group stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Newmark Group, 33.33% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 66.67% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Cbl & Associates Properties (NYSE:CBL) is the #3 top real estate stock out of 255 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Cbl & Associates Properties (NYSE:CBL) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Cbl & Associates Properties (NYSE:CBL) has a Due Diligence Score of 39, which is 13 points higher than the real estate sector average of 26. It passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Cbl & Associates Properties has seen its stock return 83.46% over the past year, overperforming other real estate stocks by 98 percentage points.

Cbl & Associates Properties has an average 1 year price target of $45.00, an upside of 1.95% from Cbl & Associates Properties's current stock price of $44.14.

Cbl & Associates Properties stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering Cbl & Associates Properties, 100% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 186 real estate stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 real estate stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Net Lease Office Properties (NYSE:NLOP) has an annual dividend yield of 77.67%, which is 71 percentage points higher than the real estate sector average of 6.72%.

Net Lease Office Properties's dividend payout ratio of -194.2% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Orchid Island Capital (NYSE:ORC) has an annual dividend yield of 20.4%, which is 14 percentage points higher than the real estate sector average of 6.72%. Orchid Island Capital's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% nine times in the last 10 years. Orchid Island Capital's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Orchid Island Capital's dividend payout ratio of 161.8% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Ellington Credit Co (NYSE:EARN) has an annual dividend yield of 19.79%, which is 13 percentage points higher than the real estate sector average of 6.72%. Ellington Credit Co's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% three times in the last 10 years. Ellington Credit Co's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Ellington Credit Co's dividend payout ratio of -564.7% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Real estate stocks were up 1.21% in the last day, and up 1.63% over the last week. Healthpeak Properties was the among the top gainers in the real estate sector, gaining 18.11% yesterday.

Healthpeak Properties shares are trading higher after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 financial results and raised its FY26 FFO guidance.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued real estate stocks right now are:

Millrose Properties (NYSE:MRP) is the most undervalued real estate stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Millrose Properties has a valuation score of 71, which is 49 points higher than the real estate sector average of 22. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Millrose Properties's stock has gained 9.35% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the real estate sector by 24 percentage points.

Forestar Group (NYSE:FOR) is the second most undervalued real estate stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Forestar Group has a valuation score of 29, which is 7 points higher than the real estate sector average of 22. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Forestar Group's stock has gained 39.79% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the real estate sector by 54 percentage points.

Newmark Group (NASDAQ:NMRK) is the third most undervalued real estate stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Newmark Group has a valuation score of 43, which is 21 points higher than the real estate sector average of 22. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Newmark Group's stock has gained 50.36% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the real estate sector by 65 percentage points.

36.61% of real estate stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect real estate stocks to rise by 8.11% over the next year.

0.95% of real estate stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 6.19% of real estate stocks are rated B (Buy), 58.57% are rated C (Hold), 28.57% are rated D (Sell), and 5.71% are rated F (Strong Sell).