ESCONDIDO, CALIFORNIA, December 13, 2001 — 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 $0.19 per share from $0.18875 per share. This is the 17th consecutive quarter in which the Company has increased the amount of the monthly dividend. The dividend is payable on January 15, 2002 to shareholders of record as of January 2, 2002. The new monthly dividend amount represents an annualized rate of $2.28 per share. The Company continues its long-term policy of declaring and paying common stock dividends on a monthly, rather than a quarterly, basis.

Tom A. Lewis, Chief Executive Officer of Realty Income commented, "We are very pleased to have been able to increase the amount of the monthly dividend again this quarter. With the payment of the January monthly dividend, we will have made 377 consecutive monthly dividend payments. Our ongoing goal is to produce consistent performance results for our shareholders. Increasing the dividend on a regular basis and remaining dedicated to providing dependable monthly income is the best evidence we can provide of our progress towards this goal."

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 paid 376 consecutive monthly dividend payments throughout its 32-year operating history. The monthly income is supported by the cash flow from 1,085 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.