Much of the literature on capital structure excludes Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) due mainly to the unique regulatory environment of these firms. As such, the issue of how REITs choose among different financing options when they raise external capital is largely unexplored. In this paper, we examine the capital structure of REITs to answer two questions: is there a relationship between market-to-book and leverage ratios? and, does market-to-book have a temporary or a long-term impact on leverage ratios? Our results suggest that REITs with high market-to-book ratios have high leverage ratios, and historical market-to-book has long-term persistent impact on current leverage ratio. We interpret these findings as supportive of pecking order theory. When financing costs of adverse selection exceed costs of financial distress, pecking order is more relevant in explaining the cross-sectional variation in capital structure