Real estate investment means not only direct purchase of rights to real property but also investing in securities issued by real property investment funds. There are various legal and organizational forms of these actors, Real Estate Investment Trust – US type is dominant but there are often national forms what enriches instruments of real property markets. Investment results indicate that direct and indirect types of investment are not identical, although they have roots in the same real property markets. The differences have been repeatedly investigated in relation to different markets and time periods. This research problem inspired the authors to trace the results of Polish real property investment funds and direct real estate investments. The analysis showed a very big difference – investors of real property funds suffered significant losses and results of direct real property investment were positive. The aim of the authors was to examine the difference between these results and search for their causes. They used method of economic analysis and examined the text of legal regulation.