ESCONDIDO, CALIFORNIA, December 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 $0.20 per share from $0.19875 per share. This is the 25th consecutive quarter in which the Company has increased the amount of its monthly dividend. The dividend is payable on January 15, 2004 to shareholders of record as of January 2, 2004. The new monthly dividend amount represents an annualized rate of $2.40 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 January dividend, we will have made 402 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 402 consecutive monthly dividend payments throughout its 34-year operating history. The monthly dividend is supported by the cash flow from over 1,400 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.

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