With peak interest rates today, the question to ask isn’t whether the Fed will cut rates but whether we’re missing out on any great opportunities in Singapore REITs and their dividends today.
Singapore REITs have faced problems over the last couple of years. With higher interest rates having wrecked many Singapore REITs, we’re seeing better fundamentals across REITS.
What’s more, many Singapore REITs have also refinanced their debt for 2025.
In fact, I shared with my Diligence Club members on exactly when to buy Singapore REITs today.
With Singapore REITs like shares of CapitaLand Integrated Trust and even shares of Frasers Centre Trust trading higher, are there still bargains in Singapore REITs?
Well, here are 3 Singapore REITs to buy at more than 6% dividend yield.
So… Let’s dive in!
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Singapore REIT #1: Mapletree Industrial Trust
At S$6 billion market cap, Mapletree Industrial Trust is one of Singapore’s blue-chip industrial REITs. The worst time to buy Mapletree Industrial Trust was 2020-2021. Shares traded at close to 3% dividend yield.
Today, shares of Singapore’s major industrial trust are trading at a high 6%+ dividend yield. Not many Singapore blue-chip REITs are trading at this level.
Quick background: Mapletree Industrial Trust has ~S$9 billion worth of property assets, with more than half of its assets accounting for data centres. Despite being a Singapore REIT, actually half of its assets are based in the US.
Today, it has 140 properties across data centres, hi-tech buildings and business space, and traditional multi-tenanted B1 and B2 properties in Singapore.
These are the properties that are rented to SMEs in Singapore that do general manufacturing and light industrial activities.
Over the years, Mapletree Industrial Trust has evolved and shifted toward data centres, which is driving share price performance.
In its latest financial results, gross revenues and net property income are stable. Even though DPU has fallen, this was mainly because of higher borrowing costs from its joint ventures.
Am I worried? Perhaps. But I’m not concerned as I believe many Singapore REITs – including Mapletree Industrial Trust – have hit their peaked borrowing costs.
At current prices, Mapletree Industrial Trust trades at 6.3% dividend yield.
Singapore REIT #2: Mapletree Pan-Asia Commercial Trust
First things first, not many will like this Singapore REIT – Mapletree Pan-Asia Commercial Trust. Two things: its China exposure and Hong Kong’s Festival Walk shopping mall.
But these are the very reasons why I like Mapletree Pan-Asia Commercial Trust. Hear me out.
Today, Mapletree Pan-Asia Commercial Trust trades at a discount to its P/B ratio. It’s probably one of the “cheapest” Singapore REITs today.
At first glance, things don’t look good for Mapletree Pan-Asia Commercial Trust.
Gross revenue, net property income and its distribution per unit (DPU) were all down due to divestments of its Mapletree Anson property, lower overseas contribution and a stronger Singapore dollar.
However, a closer look sees the worst of its bad news are over. Its Festival Walk are showing signs of improvement:
“For FY24/25, the mall recorded a 5.6% yoy increase in shopper traffic. However, tenant sales declined 8.4% yoy to HKD3.6 billion.
This is attributable to changing consumption patterns including currency-driven outbound travel and cross-border spending by local residents, and further compounded by reduced spending by overseas visitors including those from Mainland China.
While full-year tenant sales performance was aligned with the broader Hong Kong market, Festival Walk outperformed the market in the second half as compared to the first half.
This largely reflects our effective marketing collaborations with tenants and partners, which created impactful events and celebrity appearances that successfully enhanced footfall.
By financial year-end, Festival Walk maintained a robust 96.8% committed occupancy even as Hong Kong’s retail landscape undergoes transformation.”
This is also the reason why Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust trades at such a discount to its PB ratio.
You might disagree with me buying “cheap” stocks. However, don’t forget Mapletree Pan-Asia Commercial Trust still owns a portfolio of high-quality assets, including VivoCity and Mapletree Business City.
You see, VivoCity still commands the bulk of this Singapore blue-chip REIT rental income with a close to full occupancy, high retention rate and a positive rental reversion.
What’s more, management is actively renovating and improving the shopping mall to maximize rental yield.
Here’s the other thing: Interest rates are coming down. In its latest financial result, Mapletree Pan-Asia Commercial Trust paid 16% less interest cost as compared to the previous year over the same period.
It also doesn’t have more than 23% of its total debt due in any financial year. This allows Mapletree Pan Asian Commercial Trust to be well-managed in its debt.
Despite temporary weakness in China and Hong Kong assets, at current prices, Mapletree Pan-Asia Commercial Trust trades at ~6% dividend yield. Not too bad for a Singapore blue-chip REIT.
Singapore REIT #3: CapitaLand Ascott Trust
This is one of my favourite Singapore REITs. Now, hospitality assets are cyclical. I mean see how hospitality REITs were crushed during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Yet, CapitaLand Ascott Trust has proved its resilience – adapting to the pandemic by shifting toward student hostels. But that’s not just what I like about CapitaLand Ascott Trust. I’ll explain.
At S$3.4 billion, CapitaLand Ascott Trust has ~S$9 billion worth of property assets across the world. That’s 102 properties across 44 cities in 15 different countries.
That’s one thing I like: diversification. More crucially, Most of its properties are sitting on freehold landleases. This means its properties, especially in development markets, will get more valuable over time.
Put it this way, every time a land lease expires, Singapore REITs raise more capital – either via debt or rights issue just to replace the property and the land their property sits on.
With CapitLand Ascott Trust that offers mostly properties with freehold landleases, there’s nothing much to worry about.
In its latest 1Q2025 results, gross profits rose 4% y/y, which was driven by new properties. And that has even replaced the gross profits that were lost from its divestments in 2024. Not too bad.
I cannot imagine companies stopping sending people overseas to travel. I cannot even imagine people stopping traveling for holidays. Or students stop renting for long-term accommodation.
Even with geopolitical tensions and the middle east conflict, the world gets more interconnected. With the pandemic behind us, I expect CapitaLand Ascott Trust to be a ride on the big tailwind of pent-up travel demand.
At current prices, CapitaLand Ascott Trust trades ~6.6% dividend yield. As I’ve shared with my Diligence Club members, I expect its dividends to eventually climb back to S$0.08/share, a projected 8% dividend yield in the future.
Special Mention: Link REIT
I’ve said this before, I’ll say it again: Link REIT is probably the most misunderstood by the market. Shares were in the dumps because no one liked China/HK stocks some years ago.
But here’s the thing: At HK$102 billion, this is Asia’s biggest retail REIT.
It has over 130 assets in its portfolio, mostly in Hong Kong. Since it got listed in 2005 in the Hong Kong Exchange, Link REIT has now expanded into mainland China and properties across the world – owning shipping malls, carparks, offices and logistic centre.
In fact, it owns both Jurong Point and Swing By @Thomson Plaza in Singapore. It also manages AMK Hub.
In its latest 1QFY2025/2026 financial results, it continued to maintain steady, high occupancy across its retail, office and logistics assets.
Despite the current higher interest rate environment and being the largest retail REIT in Asia, Link REIT has a low net gearing ratio, high interest coverage ratio that ensures it can sufficiently pay interest costs out of its rental income and more importantly…
It has full access to a HK$8.7 billion credit facility. This gives it more than enough firepower to grow its portfolio and make sure it has enough money to refinance its debt.
Now, while Singapore REITs are getting more expensive, Link REIT is still trading cheap, considering its well-reputed franchise, high-quality assets and healthy financial numbers.
With many Singapore and even Hong Kong REITs that have been listed over the years, only a few winners come to mind. And I believe Link REIT is one of those few with a strong high dividend payer.
At current prices, Link REIT pays a 6.5% dividend yield.
My final thoughts
Not all Singapore REITs are created equal. Not all of them pay a high dividend yield. But what’s crucial is to pick high-quality Singapore REITs that pay high dividends and are secured by strong assets.
As a dividend investor, that’s what I want to look for when I want to accumulate passive income in the long-term.
