Realty is a shorthand term for of "real estate." Property is divided into two types: "real property," which is any interest in land, real estate, growing plants or the improvements on it, and "personal property" (sometimes called "personalty"), which is everything else.
For the most part, states have exclusive jurisdiction over the land within their borders, and their law concerning the kind of interests that can be held and how they are created is not subject to federal law. Property law governs personal interests in property, such as rights of ownership, requirements in sales and transfers of property, and settlement of claims against property.
