ESCONDIDO, CALIFORNIA, October 16, 2003—Realty Income Corporation (Realty Income), The Monthly Dividend Company®, (NYSE: O) today announced that it anticipates substantially exceeding its previously planned target of approximately $150 million in new property acquisition activity during 2003.

The Company said it had acquired 90 new properties for $124.3 million during the first nine months of the year. Of the total properties acquired, 78 properties acquired for $94.7 million will be held by Realty Income as long-term investments in the Company's core portfolio and 12 properties acquired for $29.6 million were placed in the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Crest Net Lease, Inc. to be subsequently sold.

The Company also announced that it expects to close shortly a transaction of approximately $95 million to acquire a portfolio of properties from an existing tenant. In addition, the Company also announced that it is negotiating the acquisition of an additional portfolio of properties, in an industry in which the Company has previously invested, for approximately $135 million. Realty Income is also actively evaluating other acquisition opportunities and one or more of these acquisitions may close during the fourth quarter of 2003. The Company further stated that it anticipates that the majority of properties that may be acquired during the balance of 2003 will be held for long-term investment within Realty Income's real estate portfolio and the remainder of the properties will be allocated to Crest Net Lease for subsequent sale.

Commenting on the Company's acquisition pipeline, Tom A. Lewis, Chief Executive Officer stated, "We are pleased to see increasing acquisition activity during the second half of the year. We attribute this increase to our ability to acquire large portfolios and to analyze and commit to a transaction quickly, without financing contingencies. These potential acquisitions will further diversify our real estate portfolio and provide us with increased revenue to support the payment of monthly dividends."

All of these transactions are in various stages of evaluation, negotiation and documentation, or are subject to conditions over which the Company may not have control. Realty Income cannot, therefore, give assurances that it will be able to complete these transactions.

Realty Income will hold a conference call on Thursday, October 30, 2003 at 1:30 PM Pacific Time to discuss third quarter operating results, the current acquisitions environment for net-leased properties, and will also provide its initial 2004 earnings estimates.

Consistent with Realty Income's disclosure policy, the Company does not disclose lease rates on individual tenant transactions. Lease rates, terms, and conditions are competitive in nature and are a major component of the Company's new business development program. The Company believes the disclosure of individual rate negotiations would be damaging to its competitive position and its ability to complete new property acquisitions. As in the past, Realty Income will announce its blended lease rate and lease terms on a cumulative basis in the Company's quarterly press release on operations.

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are "forward-looking" statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, which may cause the Company's actual future results to differ materially from expected results. These risks include, among others, general economic conditions, local real estate conditions, the availability of capital to finance planned growth, property acquisitions and the timing of these acquisitions, and the profitability of the Company's subsidiary, Crest Net Lease, as described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Consequently, such forward-looking statements should be regarded solely as reflections of the Company's current operating plans and estimates. Actual operating results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecast in this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date these statements were made.

Realty Income, The Monthly Dividend Company®, is a New York Stock Exchange real estate company dedicated to providing shareholders with dependable monthly income. To date the Company has declared 400 consecutive monthly dividend payments throughout its 34-year operating history and has increased the monthly dividend for 24 consecutive quarters. The monthly dividend is supported by the cash flow from 1,250 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.