Despite rumors of an upcoming collapse in commercial real estate, real estate mutual funds continue to bring home solid returns. Investors bracing for part two of the financial crisis, this time in commercial real estate, missed out on a 27.6% gain, according to Lipper, by real estate mutual funds in 2010. These funds capitalized on discounted prices for commercial property and real estate investment trusts as well as lucrative dividend yields. “There was less of a distressed environment (for commercial real estate) than many perceived,” says David Lee, portfolio manger of the T. Rowe Price Real Estate fund, one of the top-performing real estate funds last year, returning 29.9%.