Question.
Are bonds / preference shares from REITS a better choice than common stock?
Exactly. Historically REITs have been doing better than the share market. But this might be distorted by the unreasonably low mortgage rate over the last decade, which has led to speculation in the housing market. In some places house prices are dropping (including in countries where the economy is growing, like Switzerland). In the meantime, more (empty) houses are being built, and the speculation continues.Original Post Deleted
Different beasts - fixed returns so you have less risk and less potential return. So the answer to your question depends on why you are looking to add them to your portfolio which leads to the next point - my standard answer to many investment related questions which are phrased as "is A or B the better investment" is that some of each is also a valid answer (as is neither in some cases). I have both units in REITS (equity) and bonds issued by REITS (debt). The units did much better pre-covid but have lost value over the last 5 months or so while be boring old bonds just keep spitting out the same old semi-annual coupon.