Cohen & Steers Total Return Realty Fund Announces 29% Increase in Regular Monthly Distribution and Adoption of Level Rate Distribution Policy; Declares Dividends for January, February, March 2005 NEW YORK, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The board of directors of Cohen & Steers Total Return Realty Fund, Inc. (NYSE:RFI) announced an increase of $0.025 per common share in the fund's regular monthly distribution, raising the monthly distribution to $0.11 per common share. The new monthly distribution rate represents a 29.4% increase compared to the prior monthly distribution rate. In connection with this increase, the fund's board of directors announced the adoption of a level rate distribution policy. Under this policy, subject to market conditions at the time of declaration, the board of directors has determined that the fund will pay monthly distributions on each share of common stock at a rate of $0.11 per share, which equals $1.32 per share on an annual basis. These distributions would represent an annualized rate of 7.02% based on the fund's closing market price of $18.80 on December 7, 2004. If, for any monthly distribution, the fund's net investment company taxable income is less than the amount of the distribution, the difference generally will be a tax-free return of capital distributed from the fund's assets. The distribution rate of $0.11 per share reflects both the increased investment income that the fund's investment manager believes the fund will earn and the decision of the board of directors to augment investment income with the fund's capital, which has increased significantly since the fund's initial public offering due to unrealized appreciation in the fund's portfolio investments. As of December 3, 2004, the fund had unrealized appreciation in its portfolio investments equivalent to $7.40 per common share. In accordance with this new policy, the board of directors of the fund declared three monthly dividends of $0.11 per common share for January, February and March of 2005. Details are as follows: The January 2005 dividend is payable on January 31, 2005 to shareholders of record on January 14, 2005. The ex-dividend date is January 12, 2005. The February 2005 dividend is payable on February 28, 2005 to shareholders of record on February 15, 2005. The ex-dividend date is February 11, 2005. The March 2005 dividend is payable on March 31, 2005 to shareholders of record on March 15, 2005. The ex- dividend date is March 11, 2005. Cohen & Steers Capital Management, Inc., the investment manager of the fund, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cohen & Steers, Inc., a publicly traded company whose common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CNS." DATASOURCE: Cohen & Steers Total Return Realty Fund, Inc. CONTACT: Douglas R. Bond, executive vice president, Cohen & Steers Capital Management, Inc., +1-212-832-3232 Web site: http://www.cohenandsteers.com/

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