Funds modeled on U.S. real estate investment trusts debuted Monday on the Tokyo Stock Exchange with high hopes in the securities industry that they will lure individual investors amid ultralow interest rates and a slump in stock prices.

Officials from real estate companies and the TSE celebrate the debut of real estate investment trusts at the bourse.

A fund affiliated with Mitsui Fudosan Co. and another with Mitsubishi Estate Co. were listed Monday.

The Mitsui Fudosan fund fetched an initial 625,000 yen, the same as its issuing price, while the Mitsubishi Estate fund saw an initial price of 535,000 yen, about 2 percent higher than the issuing price of 525,000 yen.

Other major real estate firms and trading companies are preparing to list REITs.

In a ceremony marking the start of REIT trading, TSE President Masaaki Tsuchida expressed high hopes that they will prove popular among individual investors.

"In the United States, REITs have been recognized as an investment product," he said.

In REITs, funds collected from investors are invested in real estate, such as office buildings and commercial facilities, and proceeds are derived from office rent and sales of facilities.

The products were approved by the government in November.

Both funds predict they will be able to offer annual dividend yields of around 4 percent.

Nikko Salomon Smith Barney Ltd., the lead manager of the Mitsubishi Estate fund, which will sell 160,000 units, said interest in the new investment product is strong.

"We've had a lot of inquiries from both individual investors and institutional investors," a spokesman said.

The investment products are viewed as being "middle-risk, middle-return" products, but there is the risk of yields falling if their popularity leads to a jump in prices.

Investors will also have to take into account the risk of lower yields in the event of a decline in rent, and damage to property caused by earthquakes and other natural disasters.