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Data last updated: Aug 17, 2026
Snapshot (as of Aug 17, 2026): Vanguard Real Estate ETF (VNQ) pays a $3.47 annual dividend ($0.86 quarterly), yielding 3.54% at $98.02/share. Next ex-dividend date 2026-06-24. Source: Yahoo Finance, aggregated by MerryDiv.
Dividend Yield: 3.54%
Annual Dividend: $3.47 per share
Ex-Dividend Date: 2026-06-24
Dividend Frequency: quarterly
Sector: Financial Services
Years of Dividend History: 23
The Vanguard Real Estate ETF dividend comes from a fund that holds equity in REITs owning and managing income-producing properties, including office buildings and hotels. VNQ currently yields 3.51%, paying $3.4732 per share over the trailing twelve months. The fund pays quarterly, with the next ex-dividend date on June 24, 2026, and the most recent payment was $0.8554 per share. A beta of 1.0 means price swings track the broader market, which suits income-focused investors who can tolerate real estate sector volatility in exchange for yield.
Vanguard Real Estate ETF pays out dividends sourced from the income generated by its underlying REIT holdings, and the payout ratio is not applicable (fund/ETF) since distributions flow through from portfolio income rather than retained earnings. Vanguard Real Estate ETF dividend safety rests on the income-producing capacity of the commercial real estate assets held across the fund, including properties like office buildings and hotels. The main pressure point is that VNQ's share price exhibits greater volatility than bond-focused funds, and real estate income can contract when property demand weakens, which has historically caused year-over-year distribution declines.
Vanguard Real Estate ETF dividend history shows a CAGR of 3.8% per year from 2011 to 2025. Per-share payments grew from $2.0500 to $3.4730 over that window (2026 data is a partial year and excluded from the CAGR calculation). The largest annual increase in the window was 27.3% in 2016, but the history also contains at least one year-over-year decline exceeding 5%, so growth has not been linear. At 3.8% annually, the pace is slow enough that inflation can erode real income over time.
| Period | CAGR | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-Year | +2.5% | $3.23 (2022) | $3.47 (2025) |
| 5-Year | +0.8% | $3.33 (2020) | $3.47 (2025) |
| 10-Year | +1.1% | $3.12 (2015) | $3.47 (2025) |
VNQ fits income-focused investors who want real estate exposure through a diversified REIT fund rather than individual property stocks. The yield sits in the moderate (2–4%) range at 3.51%, slightly above the fund's own 5-year average of 3.35%, which means current pricing offers a marginally better entry yield than recent history. Four consecutive years of dividend increases is a short streak, and the history includes meaningful year-over-year declines, so income is not guaranteed to rise every year. What an investor gets is broad exposure to commercial real estate income; what they accept is a distribution that can and has moved in both directions.
| Payment Date | Amount per Share |
|---|---|
| 2026-06-24 | $0.8554 |
| 2026-03-24 | $0.9460 |
| 2025-12-22 | $0.8010 |
| 2025-09-24 | $0.8720 |
| 2025-06-26 | $0.8680 |
| 2025-03-25 | $0.9320 |
| 2024-12-23 | $0.8560 |
| 2024-09-27 | $0.8130 |
| 2024-06-28 | $1.0330 |
| 2024-03-22 | $0.7320 |
| Year | Total Dividends |
|---|---|
| 2026 | $1.8014 |
| 2025 | $3.4730 |
| 2024 | $3.4340 |
| 2023 | $3.4930 |
| 2022 | $3.2270 |
Project income from VNQ with the VNQ dividend calculator or track your full portfolio with the dividend tracker.