The aim of this study is to map the financial resilience of 49 Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) listed on Borsa Istanbul over the period 2020–2024 by using a ratio-analysis-based composite index approach. REITs are both the main vehicle of the financialization of the real estate sector and strategic institutional investment instruments for emerging economies, which are directly affected by new dividend and tax regulations (such as the minimum dividend distribution requirement introduced as of 2025). Therefore, there is a need for a comprehensive measure that disentangles the dynamics of liquidity, leverage and profitability at the firm level within the sector.

In the study, 10 key financial ratios were normalized to the 0–1 range using the Min–Max method; based on these, Liquidity, Capital Structure and Profitability sub-indices and an overall Financial Soundness Index (FSI) were constructed. Descriptive statistics, particularly the very wide minimum–maximum ranges and high standard deviations in profitability and short-term indebtedness ratios, indicate that the sector exhibits a highly heterogeneous and volatile structure. The FSI results show that 2020 was a “bottom year” in which risk accumulated, characterized by high leverage and fragile liquidity; 2021–2022 was a period of rapid balance-sheet recovery with 2022 as the sectoral peak; and 2023–2024 was a phase marked by a normalization in profitability and increasing firm-level divergence.

The original contribution of the study is that, instead of treating REITs through a single sector average, it employs a classification method based on the Financial Soundness Index to distinguish financially strong, moderate and weak firms, thereby helping both investors and regulators to assess financial soundness in a more robust and informative manner.