SINGAPORE: In the months of January, February and March 2019, Singapore REITs have seen net institutional inflows of S$82.7 million, S$42.7 million and S$114.2 million respectively, according to Singapore Exchange (SGX) data.

Analysts have noted revived investor interest in S-REITs since late last year, driven by a flight to safety amidst the uncertain outlook for US-Sino trade negotiations, the hunt for higher yields, and as global equity markets remained volatile.

Recent dovish signals from the US Federal Reserve suggesting a pause in the rate hike cycle has also buoyed sentiment on the sector.

There are 34 Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), five stapled trusts and three property trusts listed on SGX. The sector has a combined market capitalisation of nearly S$100 billion, with Retail, Industrial and Office REITs making up the largest segments.

Since late last year, analysts have noted revived investor interest in S-REITs, driven by a flight to safety amidst the uncertain outlook for US-Sino trade negotiations, the hunt for higher yields, and as global equity markets remain volatile.

In the months of January, February and March, Singapore REITs have seen net institutional inflows of S$82.7 million, S$42.7 million, and S$114.2 million respectively, which brings the sector’s inflows to S$239.6 million for the first quarter of 2019, SGX data showed.

In the 2019 year-to-date, the 20 best-performing S-REITs – which have a combined market capitalisation of more than S$60 billion – have averaged a total return of 15.7%. This brings their one-year, three-year and five-year total returns to 10.6%, 37.9%, and 51.7% respectively.

These 20 trusts have also averaged a price-to-book ratio of 1.0 and a dividend yield of 6.1%. Industrial and office REITs account for the majority of the best performers, with the remainder being hospitality and retail REITs.

Among the 20, the five best performers in the YTD were: Sasseur REIT (25.0%), Capitaland Retail China Trust (19.4%), Keppel-KBS US REIT (18.2%), Mapletree Logistics Trust (17.6%), and Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (17.6%). These five trusts have averaged a total return of 19.6% in the YTD, bringing their one-year total return to 11.0%.[the_ad id=”31605″]