In an August update following Prime US REIT’s 1H2025 results, RHB Bank said a key positive was the turnaround in portfolio occupancy, with a noticeable pick-up in leasing momentum and return of large leases. “Rental reversions improved, aided by flight-to-quality, return-to-office policies, and limited new supply. Green shoots are seen in the US office transaction market, and improved liquidity will alleviate refinancing concerns. Key hurdles are volatile interest rates and a potential return of inflation from tariff policies, which could slow down the ongoing recovery,” the RHB report said.
During Brookfield Asset Management’s investor day on Sept 10, the global asset manager’s managing partner of Brookfield’s real estate group, Kevin McCrain said: “what happens when everybody goes back to work? The demand for office space is soaring because companies vastly underestimated the amount of space they were going to need coming out of the pandemic.”
If so, it may be time to re-look at the US S-REITs which continue to trade at sharp discounts to their net asset values. For instance, Prime US REIT is trading at 21.5 US cents compared to its June 30 NAV of 55 US cents. Keppel Pacific Oak US REIT is trading at 24.5 US cents compared to its end-June NAV of 70 cents.
