ESCONDIDO, CALIFORNIA, September 17, 2003—Realty Income Corporation (Realty Income), The Monthly Dividend Company®, (NYSE:O) today announced that its Board of Directors has declared an increase in the Company's common stock monthly dividend to $0.19875 per share from $0.1975 per share. This is the 24th consecutive quarter in which the Company has increased the amount of its monthly dividend. The dividend is payable on October 15, 2003 to shareholders of record as of October 1, 2003. The new monthly dividend amount represents an annualized rate of $2.385 per share. The Company continues its long-term policy of declaring and paying common stock dividends on a monthly, rather than on a quarterly, basis.

Tom A. Lewis, Chief Executive Officer of Realty Income commented, "We are delighted to have been able to increase the amount of the monthly dividend again this quarter. With the payment of the October dividend, we will have made 399 consecutive monthly dividend payments. Our goal is to continue to provide consistent performance results and dependable monthly income to our shareholders. Increasing the amount of the dividend on a regular basis is the best evidence we can provide of our progress towards this goal."

Realty Income, The Monthly Dividend Company®, is a real estate company dedicated to providing shareholders with dependable monthly income. To date the Company has declared 399 consecutive monthly dividend payments throughout its 34-year operating history. The monthly dividend is supported by the cash flow from over 1,200 retail properties owned under long-term lease agreements with leading regional and national retail chains. The Company is an active buyer of net-leased retail properties nationwide.

Note to Editors:

Realty Income press releases are available at no charge by calling our toll-free investor hotline number: 888-811-2001, or through the Internet at http://www.realtyincome.com/Investing/News.html.