Chart of the Day: Top 5 S-REITs hit 20% average returns YTD

Sasseur REIT's YTD returns outgrew its peers at 25%.

This chart from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) shows that the five best-performing Singapore REITs saw average returns of 20% YTD with Sasseur REIT seeing the highest YTD return of 25%.

Meanwhile, rounding up the top five are CapitaLand Retail China Trust (19.4%), Keppel-KBS US REIT (18.2%), Mapletree Logistics Trust (17.6%). and Far East Hospitality Trust (17.5%). Together, the top 20 S-REITs saw average returns of 15.7%.

Also read: Here's why investors are pooling cash into S-REITs

“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,” SGX explained.

Although S-REITs have trailed behind the benchmark STI at the start of 2018, the sector rallied and caught up in Q4 2018 as the Fed assumed a more dovish stance. In November and December 2018, S-REITs were amongst the best-performing sectors in SGX registering total returns of 2.3% and 0.3% respectively, data from SGX show, with most of those gains extending into 2019.

In March, S-REITs recorded a net institutional inflow of $114.2m.