Complete guide to Singapore REITs

Singapore's REIT market has been hit by higher interest rates, but that headwind seems to be dissipating. Estimated reading time: 33 minutes

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Singapore’s Marina Bay. Source: Getty Images

If you’ve ever strolled along Singapore’s Marina Bay, you will have noticed the dozens of office towers that dominate the skyline. You may not know that many of these towers are owned by real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) that you can purchase directly on the Singapore Exchange.

The benefits of REITs is that they’re liquid, less volatile than stocks and also offer tax benefits compared to owning stocks.

Since 2022, Singapore’s REIT market has performed poorly. The iEdge S-REIT Leaders Index is down roughly 30% from its 2019 peak despite the fact that Singapore remains one of Asia’s most dynamic economies.

The iEdge S-REIT Leaders Index has reached a 10-year low. Source: SGX

The main reason for this poor performance is the current high interest rate environment. But now that the Federal Reserve is turning dovish, it’s possible that global interest rates will finally start coming down.

In this post, I will dig into the Singapore REIT (“S-REIT”) market, explain how it functions and also discuss the longer-term outlook for some of the 42 REITs listed on the Singapore Exchange.