Real vs Personal Property - Explained
What is Real Property and Personal Property?
Written by Jason Gordon
Updated at September 24th, 2021
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Table of Contents
What is Real Property?What is Personal Property?Discussion QuestionAcademic ResearchWhat is Real Property?
Property is further broken down into personal property and real property. Real property is land and anything permanently attached to it.
What is Personal Property?
Personal property is anything other than real property.
Related Topics
Next Article: Fixtures and Real Property Back to: PROPERTY LAW
Related Topics
- Tangible and Intangible property?
- Fixtures?
- What is ownership?
- Role of Government in ownership of property?
- Role of property rights in economic activity?
- What are the limitations on property ownership rights?
Discussion Question
Can you think of any reason why the law would differentiate real from personal property? What characteristics make real property unique from personal property?
Academic Research
- Robinson, Glen O., Personal Property Servitudes (December 2003). Univ. of Virginia Law & Econ Research Paper No. 03-9. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=477541 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.477541
- Dooling, Bridget C.E., Take it Past the Limit: Regulatory Takings of Personal Property. Federal Circuit Bar Journal, Vol. 16, p. 445, 2007. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=999978
- Prebble QC, John, The Taxation of Property Transactions Part 1, Personal Property and Profit-Making Schemes (1985). John Prebble "The Taxation of Personal Property Transactions" (LexisNexis, Wellington, 1985); Victoria University of Wellington Legal Research Paper No. 68/2013. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1576951