Singapore developers cede to REITs as investors' top pick

(Sept 25): Buy the businesses that hold the real-estate assets rather than the ones that sell them.

That’s the message from a growing number of analysts in Singapore who say REITs, or real estate investment trusts, are a better bet than developers in light of the island’s recent cooling measures.

For much of 2017 and the first half of this year, Singapore developer stocks had a great run. Rising home prices and climbing sales were among signs the city-state’s residential market was emerging from a deep freeze. That all changed on July 5, when the government shocked the industry by imposing a fresh set of curbs that came into effect at midnight the following day.

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