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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IYR returned +3.4% and VEA +17.1%.

Which is cheaper, IYR or VEA?

VEA is cheaper, by 0.34 percentage points a year. That is about $34 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do IYR and VEA overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 80% of IYR and 0% of VEA by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IYR vs VEA: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IYR returned +3.4% to VEA's +17.1%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $3.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF, and $231.6bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF.

IYR on its own →VEA on its own →

At a glance

+3.4%

IYR total return, 1 year

+17.1%

VEA total return, 1 year

0.37%

IYR expense ratio

0.03%

VEA expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VEA costs 0.34 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 13.7 points; VEA is far larger, $231.6bn against $4.2bn.

IYR vs VEA: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IYR	VEA
Return
Measure	IYR	VEA
Total return, 1 year	+3.4%	+17.1%
Drawdown
Measure	IYR	VEA
Below its high	8.6%, high on Jul 28, 2026	4.4%, high on Aug 25, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IYR	VEA
What it tracks	Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Capped Index	FTSE Developed All Cap ex US Index
Cost and size
Measure	IYR	VEA
Expense ratio	0.37%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$4.2bn	$231.6bn
Holdings
Measure	IYR	VEA
Holdings in common	0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	52.5%	13.6%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, IYR and VEA hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first IYR VEA

FIRST INDUSTRIAL REALTY TRUST 0.57% 0.01%

ALEXANDRIA REAL ESTATE EQUITIES RE 0.50% 0.01%

HEALTHPEAK PROPERTIES INC 1.02% 0.01%

EQUITY LIFESTYLE PROPERTIES REIT I 0.90% 0.00%

REGENCY CENTERS REIT CORP 0.97% 0.00%

SIMON PROPERTY GROUP REIT INC 4.71% 0.00%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in IYR

WELLTOWER 9.85%

PROLOGIS REIT 8.77%

AMERICAN TOWER REIT 4.96%

EQUINIX REIT 4.57%

DIGITAL REALTY TRUST REIT 4.54%

REALTY INCOME REIT 4.19%

PUBLIC STORAGE REIT 4.10%

VIVMARK RESIDENTIAL 3.51%

Only in VEA

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 2.81%

SK hynix Inc 2.30%

ASML Holding NV 2.14%

SLBBH1142 1.07%

HSBC Holdings PLC 1.05%

Roche Holding AG 0.91%

Shell PLC 0.86%

Royal Bank of Canada 0.85%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IYR iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF VEA Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Tracks an index of U.S. Real Estate Tracks an index of Developed markets ex US

Total return, 1 year +3.4% +17.1%

Expense ratio 0.37% 0.03%

Already in the S&P 500 80.0% 0.0%

Holdings 59 3906

Net assets, IYR as of Oct 28, 2026 and VEA as of Sep 30, 2026 $3.9bn $231.6bn

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

Alert

About each fund

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.

VEA

VEA tracks an index of Developed markets ex US. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.1% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 3,906 positions, with the top ten at 13.6%. It sat 4.4% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IYR or VEA?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IYR returned +3.4% and VEA +17.1%.
Which is cheaper, IYR or VEA?: VEA is cheaper, by 0.34 percentage points a year. That is about $34 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do IYR and VEA overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 80% of IYR and 0% of VEA by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IYR vs VXUS EFA vs IYR IYR vs SCHF IYR vs VEU SCHH vs VEA VEA vs VNQ VEA vs XLRE KRE vs VEA

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

IYR filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IYR prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IYR ↗

VEA filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VEA prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VEA ↗

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

How this is computed

Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.