A new global real estate exchange traded fund (ETF) is in town, along with a new ETF provider.

The Cohen & Steers Global Global Realty Majors (GRI) from ALPS Advisors provides exposure to the global real estate market with 75 companies in developed markets including North America, Asia Pacific and Europe. It rebalances quarterly and has an expense ratio of 0.55%.

This fund joins a number of other international real estate ETFs, including:

• iShares S&P World Ex-US Property Index (WPS), down 4.6% year-to-date
• SPDR DJ Wilshire International Real Estate (RWX), down 1.2% year-to-date
• WisdomTree International Real Estate Fund (DRW), down 10.2% year to-date

The U.S. housing crisis has been taking its toll on the markets of other countries lately, but perhaps when this sector experiences a rebound here, it will spread overseas.

Tags: Asia, Europe, Real Estate, Sector ETFs