REITs are well-known for providing a stable, regular income stream for dividend investors.
Among the different REIT types, retail REITs are probably the most recognisable as they involve suburban malls that investors themselves may frequent.
It’s easy to identify with a retail REIT as Singapore is renowned for being a shoppers’ paradise.
City living involves mall-hopping as a regular pastime for families, with the added attraction of being able to escape from the island’s stifling heat and high humidity.
However, the pandemic has altered the retail landscape considerably in the last three months.
With the circuit breaker measures imposed since early April, only essential services have been allowed to operate.
Malls have virtually turned into ghost towns during those two months, with some semblance of life returning only when Phase II’s safe transition kicked on 19 June.
