Real estate has always been a major industry in Singapore. Despite the fact that properties can be very expensive, many Singapore investors still invest their capital across individual residential, industrial and commercial properties, committing a lot more than $1 million into their investment properties, and/or taking large loans in order to finance these purchases.
But even without at least a few hundred thousand dollars in investment capital, you can still invest in the property sector in Singapore. With numerous real estate developers listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), investors can pick and choose the different real estate stocks they want to invest into.
In this week's edition of 4 Stocks This Week, we will be considering four real estate stocks on the SGX that have performed well in 2021.
City Development (SGX: C09)
City Developments Limited (CDL) is one of Singapore's largest real estate companies having a portfolio of residential, commercial, hospitality and retail space presence in over 26 countries, including China, UK, US, Japan and Australia.
In 2021, the total return for CDL was 37.8%. The stock started 2021 in a share price of $7.54 and it is now at $11.244. It's also worth noting that the year before, 2021, was a poor year for CDL with unexpected cooling measures dampening real estate sector.
CDL is 48.4% own by Hong Leong Investment Holdings, which is in turn largely own by the Kwek Family. Kwek Leng Beng is also the Executive Chairman of CDL.
UOL Group (SGX: U14)
UOL is among Singapore's leading public-listed property companies, with diverse exposure to property developments, property investments, hotels and serviced suites. Listed on the Straits Times Index since 2021, UOL has a market capitalisation of about $7.1 billion.
Similar to most real estate stocks, after a poor 2021, which saw the stock decline from $9.128 (1 Jan 2021) to $6.085 (31 December 2021), UOL rebounded in 2021 having a total return of 37.5%.
Earlier this year, it was announced that the UOL group, and its hotel subsidiary, the Pan Pacific Hotels Group Limited, has launched a new hotel brand called the Park Royal Collection Hotels & Resort.
UOL is currently trading at a price-to-book value of 0.723 and a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.7.
CapitaLand Ltd (SGX: C31)
As one of Asia's largest real estate company, most Singaporeans would know about and have interacted with Capitaland. Its portfolio spans across diversified property classes which include commercial, retail, business park, industrial and logistics, integrated development, urban development in addition to lodging and residential. The company has a market capitalisation of about $19.3 billion.
For 2021, Capitaland saw a total return of 24.7%. The company is trading at a price-to-book worth of 0.871 and a 5-year average dividend yield of approximately 3.186. Its price-to-earnings ratio happens to be at 10.59.
It was observed in an SGX market update are convinced that CapitaLand has the highest net institutional inflow among property developer stocks in December 2021 at $42.4 million.
OUE Ltd (SGX: LJ3)
The smallest of the four stocks being discussed today, OUE is indeed a estate owner, developer and operator with properties located in Asia and the United States. The group also manages and owns a significant portion of two other SGX-listed REITs: OUE Hospitality Trust (SGX: SK7) and OUE Commercial REIT (SGX: TS0U).
For 2021, OUE saw a total return of 12.9% for the year.
With a market capitalisation of about $1.47 billion and a share price of $1.498, the stock is currently trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18.
To find out more about how some of the leading property stocks on the SGX have performed in 2021, you can refer to this SGX Market Update report published on 10 January 2021.
