Which returned more over the last year, IAU or IYR?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and IYR +3.4%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or IYR?

IAU is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IAU vs IYR: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and IYR an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IYR returned +3.4% against +2.7%.

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Net assets on Oct 28, 2026: $60.1bn for iShares Gold Trust and $3.9bn for iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF.

IAU on its own →IYR on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+3.4%

IYR total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.37%

IYR expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IAU costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.7 points; IAU is 15.4 times larger.

IAU vs IYR: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	IYR
Return
Measure	IAU	IYR
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+3.4%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	IYR
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	8.6%, high on Jul 28, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	IYR
What it tracks	Gold	Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Capped Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	IYR
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.37%
Net assets	$60.1bn	$3.9bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	IYR
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		80%
Holdings dated		Oct 27, 2026
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		52.5%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust IYR iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of U.S. Real Estate

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +3.4%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) not measured

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD not measured

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.37%

Holdings not counted 59

Net assets $60.1bn $3.9bn

IAU and IYR on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Alert

About each fund

IAU

Its expense ratio is 0.25% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.

IAU holds gold. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.7% with distributions reinvested, against +2.5% for its benchmark, the price of gold. It sat 24.6% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

IYR

IYR tracks an index of U.S. Real Estate. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +3.4% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.37% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 80% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 59 positions, with the top ten at 52.5%. It sat 8.6% below its high of Jul 28, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or IYR?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and IYR +3.4%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or IYR?: IAU is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs XLRE IAU vs SCHH IAU vs VNQ IAU vs VOX IYR vs SLV IYR vs USO BWET vs IYR GLD vs IYR

Where to next

IAU on its own →IYR on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →IYR dividend history →IYR holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

IYR filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IYR prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IYR ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, IAU against IYR, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iau-vs-iyr

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