Basic reason: depreciation risk — Jack Zhang said when a REIT cuts its dividend yield, the stock price may collapse.

2013 https://seekingalpha.com/article/1243211-reits-why-the-dividends-are-a-mirage

2019 https://www.simplysafedividends.com/intelligent-income/posts/3-high-yield-dividend-stocks has a detailed analysis

–2019 https://www.simplysafedividends.com/intelligent-income/posts/3-high-yield-dividend-stocks has some discussion on why some dividends are very high.

• maturity of company such as telecom and utility stocks

–2018 https://investorplace.com/2018/09/real-estate-investment-trusts-high-yields-invtlk/ says  REIT’s are a creation by/of the U.S. government.

–2018 https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/012816/basics-reinvesting-reit-dividends.asp says

Many REITs have long track records of generating continuous and increasing dividends, even during the tumultuous real estate crisis of 2008. A solid-performing REIT typically invests in a large, geographically dispersed portfolio of properties.