Top1031.com DST Census Finds the Median Minimum Investment Has Quadrupled to $100,000 Since 2020

United States, October 15, 2026 -- The October 2026 edition finds the median DST offering grew to $37.7 million so far in 2026, and investors placed $6.4 billion in 2025, according to SEC filings. The census also tracks how 149 DSTs ended since 2024.

Top1031.com has published the October 2026 edition of the Top1031 DST Census, which finds that Delaware statutory trusts (DSTs), a way for real estate investors to complete a 1031 exchange, have become a much larger ticket. The median minimum investment in a new DST was $25,000 through 2020. It rose to $50,000 in 2021 through 2023, $75,000 in 2024 and $100,000 in 2025 and 2026.

A DST holds title to one or more investment properties, such as apartment communities, warehouses or net-lease retail buildings, and sells fractional interests to investors. Under IRS rules, a properly structured DST interest can qualify as replacement property in a 1031 exchange, which lets an investor who sells investment property defer capital gains tax. Top1031.com also publishes a guide to how a Delaware statutory trust works.

The deals themselves have grown. The median DST offering rose from $8 million to $15 million in 2010 through 2016 to $37.7 million so far in 2026. Trusts with offerings of at least $100 million took 14% of the equity raised by trusts launched in 2018 and 60% of the equity raised by trusts launched in 2025. The median new commitment reported per filing rose from $311,000 in 2020 to $430,000 in 2025, an increase of 38%.

The market has grown with them. The census counts 1,749 DST offerings in SEC filings since January 2009, which together report $39.7 billion sold across 75,361 investor commitments. Investors placed $6.4 billion into DSTs in 2025, according to SEC filings, the largest calendar year in the filing record and the first to top 2022. Filing totals are a floor, because issuers are not required to update their SEC filings just to report more money raised, and industry trackers that use other sources report higher totals.

The census also tracks how DSTs end. Of 149 exits dated from January 2024 through October 10, 2026, 84 trusts sold their property, 31 converted into units of a real estate investment trust's operating partnership through a Section 721 conversion, 23 ended in foreclosure or distress and 11 were partial sales or outcomes not yet known. In 2019, 39 of 40 dated exits ended with the property sold. Among trusts first filed at least ten years ago that have a dated exit, the median exit came 6.2 years after first filing.

The properties themselves sit mostly in the South. Of 1,346 DST property records that could be placed in a state, Texas holds 213, about one in six, followed by Florida with 162, Georgia with 73 and North Carolina with 61. Houston is the most common property city with 23 records, ahead of Orlando and Tampa with 18 each, and the Sun Belt holds 56% of them. Those records cover 42% of reported equity, as detailed in the census's DST map of America.

"For more than a decade, the typical DST minimum was $25,000. Today it is $100,000, and the typical deal has roughly tripled in size," said Joe Azoulay, CEO of Top1031.com. "The census counts the SEC filings of 1,749 DST offerings since 2009 and publishes the method beside the numbers, so investors and advisers can check exactly how the market has changed."

The full report and its method are published as The Top1031 DST Census. The next edition is scheduled for November 2026.

About Top1031.com

Top1031.com is a directory and research publisher covering 1031 Delaware statutory trust offerings, built from SEC Form D filings and public records. Every offering record links to its SEC filing, and every research figure carries an as-of date and a published method. Top1031.com is operated by Mangold, Inc.

Top1031.com is a data and education platform, not a broker-dealer or investment adviser. Nothing in this article is investment advice or a recommendation of any sponsor or offering. DST interests are illiquid private securities and involve risk, including possible loss of principal.

Contact Info:
Name: Joe Azoulay
Email: Send Email
Organization: Top1031.com
Website: https://www.top1031.com/

Release ID: 89206002

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