Exhibit 99.1

Earnings Release

INVESTORS REAL ESTATE TRUST ANNOUNCES FINANCIAL AND OPERATING RESULTS

FOR THE QUARTER ENDED JULY 31, 2016

- Increases Total Revenue by 10.1% Year over Year for First Quarter of Fiscal Year 2017 -

- Reports Funds From Operations of $0.12 per Share/Unit for First Quarter of Fiscal Year 2017 -

(Minot, ND) – September 8, 2016 - Investors Real Estate Trust (NYSE: IRET) (NYSE: IRETPR) (NYSE: IRETPRB), a real estate investment trust focused on the acquisition, development, redevelopment and management of multifamily communities located primarily in select growth markets throughout the Midwest, today reported its financial and operating results for the quarter ended July 31, 2016.

First Quarter Highlights

Chief Executive Officer Tim Mihalick commented, “Overall we are pleased with the quarter’s operating results.  Though we are witnessing a near term supply demand imbalance in certain of our multifamily markets, we drove strong revenue growth in many of our target markets, and our newer, non-same store multifamily assets are accelerating the earnings power of the Company as a whole. Reflective of this, we made continued progress with our development pipeline with the delivery of 71 France in Edina, Minnesota and we expect that the completion of our development program will provide a strong runway for future earnings growth.”

Mr. Mihalick continued, “With the recently announced pending sale of $236 million of senior housing assets, which represents our exit from that business, we continue to refine our portfolio and execute on our strategy to transition to a pure-play multifamily REIT. Additionally, within our multifamily segment, we intend to identify smaller, less relevant assets and begin disposing of outliers. As an organization, we are focused on maximizing value by enhancing our operations, prudently allocating our capital and strengthening our balance sheet. By doing so, we will provide our

shareholders with a higher quality earnings stream with better margins and most importantly, a differentiated opportunity to invest in a growing, best in class multifamily operator in the Midwest.  Given all the Company’s activities in the last quarter we are very pleased with our progress.”

Financial Results for the Three Months Ended July 31, 2016 Compared to the Prior Year Period

Net (loss) income available to common shareholders for the quarter ended July 31, 2016 was $(24.5) million compared to $1.7 million for the same period of the prior fiscal year.  The decrease in net income available to common shareholders was primarily due to non-cash impairment expense of $54.2 million, net of gain on sale of real estate of $9.0 million recognized in the three months ended July 31, 2016.

Funds from Operations (“FFO”) for the quarter ending July 31, 2016 was $15.9 million or $0.12 per share/unit.

The table below highlights FFO and Adjusted Funds from Operations (“AFFO”) results for the most recent five quarters.

Operating Results for the Three Months Ended July 31, 2016 Compared to the Prior Year Period

Total revenue for the Company increased by $4.6 million, or 10.1%, in the three months ended July 31, 2016 compared to same period one year ago. 

Net Operating Income (NOI) from all properties increased by $1.2 million, or 4.6%, for the quarter ending July 31, 2016 compared to the same period one year ago. Non-Same-Store properties, primarily the Company’s multifamily developments, provided for an increase in NOI of $3.7 million while Same-Store NOI decreased by approximately $2.5 million for the quarter ending July 31, 2016 compared to the same period one year ago. The decrease in Same-Store NOI was primarily due to reduced revenues at properties located in energy impacted markets in western North Dakota.

Multifamily Results for the Three Months Ended July 31, 2016 Compared to the Prior Year Period

Multifamily (including non-same-store) NOI increased by approximately $2.2 million or 12.0% for the quarter ending July 31, 2016 compared to the same period one year ago.

Same-Store Multifamily Results for the Three Months Ended July 30, 2016 Compared to the Prior Year Period

Same-Store multifamily NOI decreased by approximately $853,000 for the quarter ending July 31, 2016 compared to the same period one year ago. The decrease in Same-Store NOI was primarily due to reduced revenues at properties located in energy impacted markets in western North Dakota.

The Company’s operating margins of Same-Store multifamily NOI to gross revenues decreased by 106 basis points year over year to 57.01% for the first quarter of fiscal year 2017, as compared to the same period in the prior fiscal year.

The table below represents Same-Store multifamily performance by region for the first quarter ending July 31, 2016 compared to the same period one year ago. Excluding the energy impacted markets of Minot and Williston, North Dakota, the same-store portfolio showed improving NOI results year over year, although some select markets did see downward pressure on rents due to increased supply.  Expense increases in select markets in the table below were primarily due to increased maintenance expenses.

In addition to these initiatives to grow the multifamily portfolio through acquisitions and development, the Company has launched a value add program whereby the Company is committing an estimated $3.5 million per quarter to rehab approximately 1,500 units in fiscal year 2017. Apartments will be remodeled as the leases expire and upgrades will include a variety of new appliances, flooring, lighting, kitchen cabinets, and bathroom upgrades. Management expects these upgrades to range from $7,000 to $13,000 per unit and result in a return on investment of approximately 8% to 10% per year per unit.  During fiscal year 2016 and year to date in fiscal year 2017, under the value add program, the Company completed remodeling of 814 units at an average cost of $9,439 with an average return on investment for leased units of 13.4%.

Development Project in Progress

As of July 31, 2016, the following project is being developed:

Development Projects Placed in Service

During the three months ended July 31, 2016, one development project was placed in service, as detailed in the following table:

Disposition Activity

During the three months ended July 31, 2016, the Company disposed of the following properties:

Liquidity

At July 31, 2016, the Company had $54.4 million cash on hand and $82.5 million available on its line of credit, which matures September 1, 2017.

Quarterly Distribution

On July 1, 2016, the Company paid a quarterly distribution of $0.13 per common share and unit of IRET Properties. This was the Company’s 181st consecutive distribution. The Company also paid, on June 30, 2016, a quarterly distribution of $0.5156 per share on its Series A preferred shares and a quarterly distribution of $0.4968 per share on its Series B preferred shares.

Subsequent to the end of the first quarter of fiscal year 2017, on September 1, 2016, the Board of Trustees declared a regular quarterly distribution of $0.13 per common share and unit, payable October 3, 2016 to common shareholders and unitholders of record on September 15, 2016.

Additionally on September 1, 2016, the Board declared a distribution of $0.5156 per share on the Company’s Series A preferred shares, payable September 30, 2016 to Series A preferred shareholders of record on September 15, 2016, and declared a distribution of $0.4968 per share on the Company’s Series B preferred shares, payable September 30, 2016 to Series B preferred shareholders of record on September 15, 2016.

Guidance

For the fiscal year ending April 30, 2017, management continues to expect to report FFO in the range of $0.48 to $0.54 per share/unit. This guidance reflects management’s view of current market conditions, as well as the earnings impact of certain events referenced in this release and discussed during the scheduled first quarter fiscal year 2017 conference call. This guidance does not include the operational or capital impact of any future acquisition, development, disposition, or capital markets activity, including potential transactions discussed as part of the Company’s strategic initiatives. This guidance is also based on management’s assumption of same-store multifamily NOI growth of 2% to 4%. A number of factors could impact the Company’s ability to meet its guidance and assumption, and there can be no assurance that the Company can achieve such results. This guidance and assumption are subject to change.

Conference Call Information

The conference call for First Quarter Earnings is scheduled for Friday, September 9, 2016 at 10:00 A.M. Eastern Time. Conference call access information is as follows:

USA Toll Free Number: 1-877-509-9785

International Toll Free Number: 1-412-902-4132

Canada Toll Free Number: 1-855-669-9657

About IRET

The Company focuses on the acquisition, development, redevelopment and management of multifamily communities located primarily in select growth markets throughout the Midwest. As of July 31, 2016, the Company owned interests in 147 properties that were held for investment, consisting of: (1) 100 multifamily properties consisting of 13,012 units, and (2) 47 commercial properties, including 31 healthcare properties, containing a total of approximately 2.8 million square feet of leasable space.  The Company’s common shares, Series A preferred shares and Series B preferred shares are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE symbols: IRET, IRETPR and IRETPRB, respectively). The Company's press releases and supplemental information are available on its website at www.iret.com or by contacting Investor Relations at 701-837-7104.

Supplemental Information

The Company produced the Supplemental Operating and Financial Data for the Quarter Ended July 31, 2016 (“Supplemental Information”), which is available on the Company’s website at www.iret.com.

Non-GAAP financial measures and other capitalized terms, as used in this earnings release, are defined under the section titled “Definitions” in the Supplemental Information.

Forward-Looking Statements

This earnings release, including the Supplemental Information, contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements, which may be identified by the use of words such as “expects,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “intends,” “believes,” “outlook” and similar expressions that do not relate to historical matters, specifically including the Company’s future plans, anticipated operating results, anticipated timing of development projects being placed into service, anticipated implementation and results of its value add program, and anticipated timing of properties becoming same-store properties, are based on the Company’s expectations, forecasts and assumptions at the time of this earnings release. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements.

Such risks, uncertainties and other factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to: intentions and expectations regarding future distributions on common shares and units; changes in operating costs; fluctuations in interest rates; adverse capital and credit market conditions that might affect the Company’s access to various sources of capital and cost of capital; adequate insurance coverage; the effect of government regulation; delays or inability to obtain necessary governmental permits and authorizations; changes in general and local economic and real estate market conditions; changes in demand for Company properties that may result in lower than expected occupancy and/or rental rates; ability to acquire quality properties in the Company’s targeted markets; ability to successfully dispose of certain assets; competition for tenants from similar competing properties; the Company’s ability to attract and retain skilled personnel; cyber-intrusion; abandonment of development or redevelopment opportunities for which the Company has already incurred costs; delays in completing development, redevelopment and/or lease up of properties and increased costs; and those risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2016 and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.

The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events.

INVESTORS REAL ESTATE TRUST AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (unaudited)

INVESTORS REAL ESTATE TRUST AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (unaudited)

INVESTORS REAL ESTATE TRUST AND SUBSIDIARIES

RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO

INVESTORS REAL ESTATE TRUST TO FUNDS FROM OPERATIONS

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(1)Units of the Operating Partnership are exchangeable for cash, or, at our discretion, for Common Shares on a one-for-one basis.

(2)Net income attributable to Investors Real Estate Trust is calculated on a per Common Share basis. FFO is calculated on a per Common Share and Unit basis.

INVESTORS REAL ESTATE TRUST AND SUBSIDIARIES

RECONCILATION OF NET OPERATING INCOME TO THE

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS