A real estate investment trust (REIT) pools money from many investors into a portfolio of properties chosen and managed by a fund manager; you hold units in the trust, usually traded on a stock exchange. Fractional property investing holds an economic interest in one specific property you choose yourself. That is the core difference — a slice of someone else’s portfolio versus a stake in a single, identifiable property.

Both are regulated financial products in Australia. Almost every other difference — liquidity, minimums, fees, control, tax — flows from that one structural split. This guide compares them side by side.

What is the difference between fractional property investing and a REIT?

A REIT spreads your money across a portfolio you don’t select, with professional management and (for listed trusts) on-market liquidity. Fractional property investing concentrates your money in a property you do select, held through a platform rather than an exchange, with exit mechanics set by the product’s terms.

The table below summarises the differences. Two assumptions apply throughout: the REIT column describes common features of ASX-listed A-REITs in general — individual trusts differ, and each trust’s own disclosure documents govern; the fractional column reflects MyBrix’s product terms as at July 2026 (PDS v4.0), and other fractional platforms differ.

Feature	ASX-listed REIT (A-REIT)	Fractional property investing (MyBrix, as at July 2026)
What you hold	Units in a trust that owns properties	Brix — fractional economic interests, not property title
Asset specificity	Exposure to the trust’s whole portfolio	Exposure to one identifiable property per holding
Listing status	Listed on the ASX	Not listed — held through the platform
Liquidity	Units generally saleable during ASX trading hours	Platform exit mechanisms; typically 30–90 days; not guaranteed
Control	The manager selects and manages the portfolio	You select the property; the owner controls it
Minimum to start	Broker-set first-purchase minimum — generally $500 (as at July 2026) — plus brokerage	From $100 per month
Fees	Management costs inside the trust, plus brokerage	No purchase or holding fees; event-based fees apply
Tax treatment	Generally trust income; CGT can apply on sale	Depends on structure; CGT can apply on disposal

Each row is unpacked below.

What is a REIT and how does it work?

A REIT is a trust that owns a portfolio of properties on behalf of its investors. You buy units in the trust; the trust collects rent, pays its costs, and distributes income to unit holders. A fund manager decides which properties the trust buys, sells and borrows against — investors choose the trust, not the buildings. The ASX’s A-REITs explainer describes them as pooled investments overseen by a professional manager, and Moneysmart’s property funds guidance puts the same structure in consumer terms: you buy units in an investment run by a professional investment manager, and listed property funds — also called property trusts or REITs — trade on a public market such as the ASX.

In Australia, listed REITs are known as A-REITs and trade on the ASX. Unlisted property trusts exist too, with their own withdrawal rules; this guide compares against the listed variety, which is what most people mean by “a REIT”. Many A-REITs hold commercial property — offices, shopping centres, industrial sites — though residential trusts exist as well.

Distributions come from the trust’s income, mostly rent, and are not guaranteed. They rise and fall with the portfolio, and the unit price moves with the market — it can trade above or below the value of the underlying properties. ASIC’s Moneysmart property investment guidance covers listed and direct property exposure generally.

How does fractional property investing work?

Fractional property investing divides a single property into many small financial interests, so investors can hold a share of its economic value without buying the whole thing. Using MyBrix’s product terms as at July 2026 as the worked example: each listed property is divided into 10,000 units called Brix, together representing 100% of the property’s economic benefits — its future net sale proceeds and, where applicable, net rental proceeds.

A Brix is a fractional economic interest and a financial product under Chapter 7 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). It is not ownership of the property, and it is not a loan to the owner. The property owner remains the registered legal owner throughout, must keep a minimum holding — in general 20%, or 2,000 Brix — and keeps responsibility for rates, insurance and maintenance.

Investors’ interests are protected by security rather than title: a first-ranking mortgage is intended to be registered at settlement and held on trust for all Brix holders. MyBrix lists residential property, with owner-occupied homes the primary case.

Each arrangement runs for a maximum term of 10 years. At the end, the owner must either buy back the remaining Brix at a pre-agreed price or sell the property at market value, with proceeds distributed proportionally to all Brix holders. For the full model, step by step, see our guide to what fractional property investment is and how it works.

Can you choose which property you invest in?

With a REIT, no — the manager assembles the portfolio, and your unit price and distributions reflect the whole of it. That is the point of the structure: diversification and professional management in one purchase, at the cost of asset choice.

With fractional investing, yes. You pick the specific property, see its details before committing, and your outcome tracks that property alone. The trade-off runs the other way: a single property carries concentration risk — one street, one suburb, one building’s condition. Spreading smaller parcels across several properties reduces that, though it does not remove market risk.

Choosing is not controlling. A REIT investor has no say in which buildings the trust buys; a fractional investor has no say in what happens to the property either, because the owner remains the registered legal owner and keeps control of it. In both structures, you select an exposure — you do not manage an asset.

Which is easier to sell — a REIT or a fractional property interest?

In normal market conditions, the ASX-listed REIT is easier to sell: selling is placing an on-market order during trading hours at the prevailing price. That ease has a price dimension — the prevailing price is whatever the market offers at that moment, which can be below what you paid.

A fractional interest exits through the mechanisms in the product’s terms, and these take longer. On MyBrix, as at July 2026, there are three routes. The owner can buy back Brix at a price agreed before listing, or a compulsory acquisition event can occur, in which all outstanding Brix are acquired at once. The third route is selling Brix through a trading facility, if one is introduced — a facility is not guaranteed to exist.

Waiting periods are typically 30 to 90 days, and an early exit fee of 10% of current Brix value applies to investor early exits. There is no statutory cooling-off period on Brix purchases. Liquidity is not guaranteed and depends on market conditions.

If access to your money at short notice matters, this row of the comparison deserves the most attention of any in this guide.

How much do you need to start?

Buying A-REIT units requires a broker account. The ASX itself imposes no minimum order size or value — the floor comes from brokers, which generally require a first purchase of at least $500 in a security, known as a minimum marketable parcel (as at July 2026). Brokerage — the broker’s per-trade fee — applies on top.

On the fractional side, MyBrix’s retail entry point as at July 2026 is $100 per month through NestEgg, its contribution product. Where a monthly contribution is below the price of a single Brix, contributions accumulate until a whole Brix can be acquired.

What fees do REITs and fractional platforms charge?

REIT investors pay in two places. Management and administration costs are deducted inside the trust before distributions reach you — management fees are paid from the trust’s earnings before income is distributed — and no standard published range exists across trusts, so each trust’s own disclosure documents are the authoritative source for its costs. Brokerage applies each time you buy or sell units.

MyBrix’s investor fee schedule, as at July 2026, has no fee to open an account, no fees for purchasing or holding Brix, and no stamp duty on Brix purchases. The fees that do apply sit at specific events:

Fee	Amount	When it applies
Early exit fee	10% of current Brix value	Investor early exits
Brix trading fee	2.0% per trade	Only if a trading facility is introduced
Platform withdrawal fee	Larger of $50 or 0.5% of the withdrawal	On platform withdrawals
Rental management	10% of gross rental proceeds	Where the property is rented
Selling management	5% of gross sale price	When the property is sold

Rental and selling management are shared costs, borne proportionally by all Brix holders.

The structures don’t line up one-for-one — one deducts continuously inside a trust, the other charges at specific events — so the like-for-like comparison for any investor is each product’s own disclosure documents.

How are REITs and fractional property interests taxed?

Differently, and in both cases the detail depends on your circumstances. A-REIT distributions are taxed component by component, not as a single cash figure. Income and capital gains you receive from the trust must be declared in your tax return, and the distribution statement the trust sends you shows the amounts to use — the ATO’s managed investment trusts guidance covers the basics.

Some components are non-assessable payments that adjust your cost base instead of adding to your income: the ATO’s personal investors guide works through tax-deferred, tax-free, tax-exempted and CGT-concession amounts, each with its own effect. Trusts that have elected into the attribution (AMIT) regime send an AMMA statement instead, and unit holders adjust their cost base up or down by the net amount it shows. Selling units is a CGT event.

A fractional interest is taxed according to its structure — for Brix, the Product Disclosure Statement is the document that sets out the product’s terms, and disposals can have CGT consequences.

One setting touches both. As at July 2026, Australian resident individuals who hold a CGT asset for at least 12 months are generally eligible for the 50% CGT discount — for CGT events before 1 July 2027. Under the changes enacted in June 2026 (the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026), the discount ends for individuals, trusts and partnerships for CGT events on or after 1 July 2027, with carve-outs including new residential dwellings. Our guide to how CGT is calculated on property works through the mechanics.

Tax outcomes depend on your circumstances — speak with a registered tax agent before acting.

How are REITs and fractional platforms regulated?

Under the same framework. REIT units and fractional interests offered to Australian retail investors are financial products, so the issuer or platform must hold an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) or act as an authorised representative of a licensee under the Corporations Act 2001. Investors must be given a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) — the document setting out a product’s key features, fees, risks and complaints process — when a product is offered. Under the design and distribution obligations in force since 5 October 2021, each product also needs a public Target Market Determination (TMD) describing the consumers it is designed for.

Anyone can check a licensee or representative on ASIC’s registers before investing — a worthwhile step for either product type, remembering that a licence is not an endorsement. Moneysmart’s check-before-you-invest guide shows how.

As at July 2026, MyBrix Pty Ltd is authorised representative 1304961 of Australian Financial Licensing Group, AFS Licence No. 269868. Brix are issued by MyBrix Properties Pty Ltd ACN 669 491 338. MyBrix members have access to AFCA, a free and independent dispute resolution scheme for complaints about financial products and services.

Which one suits you?

That turns on factors only you can weigh: whether you want to choose the specific property or hold a portfolio someone else manages, how quickly you might need the money back, the capital you are starting with, the fee structure you would rather carry, and your tax position.

Neither structure is the “better” one in the abstract — they answer different questions. A REIT answers “how do I hold a managed, diversified property portfolio I can trade on-market?” Fractional investing answers “how do I hold a stake in a specific property, at a small entry point, without buying it?” The reliable basis for a decision is each product’s PDS and Target Market Determination, read alongside advice from a licensed professional.