NUS Institute of Real Estate and Urban Studies

Today, we are delighted to host a delegation from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University's Doctor of International Real Estate and Construction.

As IREUS Director, Professor Wenlan Qian, said, "in addition to sharing our insights, we also look forward to learning about the Hong Kong experience from our visitors."

Wishing our guests a good stay in Singapore!

NUS Business School, National University of Singapore | The Hong Kong Polytechnic University - PolyU

In collaboration with the Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research (ABFER), we launched Real Estate & Urban Economics track at the ABFER 13th Annual Conference this morning.

ABFER is an institute founded by academics from Asia, North America, and Europe, with the mission to create a virtual and independent network of high-quality academics akin to the NBER/CEPR, as well as conferences and workshops. (https://www.abfer.org/)

Watch this space for more content over the next two days!

Happy birthday to us!

We are excited to share that we celebrated our 20th anniversary at the IREUS Urban Housing Symposium 2026 last Friday, 8 May.

Two decades ago, IREUS – then known as the Institute of Real Estate Studies or IRES – was officially launched in June 2006 to foster research on real estate and the capital market.

As our scope expanded over the years, our research evolved to encompass infrastructure, housing, urban planning, economics, demographics, household finance and consumer behaviour, as well as wide-ranging topics in sustainability and technology.

Hence in 2018, we were renamed the Institute of Real Estate and Urban Studies (IREUS) – and here we are today, two decades on, continuing our mission to drive thought leadership for the built environment.

We were deeply privileged to have Minister for National Development, Mr Chee Hong Tat 徐芳达, as our guest of honour for this occasion. Thank you, Minister Chee, for gracing this event and sharing your insights! We appreciate your leadership and commitment to a transparent, principled approach to housing and estate renewal in Singapore. It was our pleasure to host you!

Many thanks also to our speakers and panellists for contributing their ideas on wide-ranging topics covering public and private housing, sustainability and environmental resilience.

Finally, to all our guests for your unwavering support over the years – thank you!

[ Photos: MND ]

Ministry of National Development | National University of Singapore

Buzzworthy! 4.7% less energy consumption from SG's dengue-control programme

How does a public health initiative reduce household electricity consumption by 4.7% per month? Not intuitively obvious perhaps, but here's how it happened according to a study by Agarwal, Chen, Fan, Qin and Saxena - "Buzzworthy Solutions: Dengue Control and Energy Consumption"

As a stylised fact, households tend to keep their windows closed and rely heavily on air-conditioning for ventilation during dengue outbreaks to avoid being bitten. This defensive behaviour, however, runs directly contrary to our broader national goals for reducing carbon emissions.

By suppressing the wild Aedes mosquito population by over 90%, Project Wolbachia - launched by the National Environment Agency (NEA) - has been instrumental in shifting households from aircon back to natural ventilation.

Find out more in our IREUS editorial: https://ireus.nus.edu.sg/buzzworthy-dengue-control-climate-benefits/

Read the full research paper here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5386711

“Buzzworthy solutions” – the climate benefits of Singapore’s dengue control programme – NUS Institute of Real Estate and Urban Studies “Buzzworthy solutions” – the climate benefits of Singapore’s dengue control programme Beyond its primary public health benefits, Singapore’s Wolbachia vector control programme has triggered a significant drop in residential electricity consumption. Research by Agarwal et al. illustrates ho...

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri! Best wishes from all of us at IREUS. 😄

Wishing all our friends a fabulous year ahead, a good year of abundance, robust health, and happiness!

Congratulations to our winners!

The results of our REIT Debate in the Final Showcase of the NUS REIT Discovery Camp are out.

Congrats and well done to:

Team 5 comprising Cheng Xin Ting Michelle, Pua Wei Jun and Muhammad Nurhakim Bin Nuramin (Winning Team, and Most Entertaining Team). You impressed our judges with your compelling arguments and sharp logic, so you won. But you also showed a lively sense of humour and made us laugh. That’s why you are the most entertaining team. Good job!

Chua Yi Fei (Best Speaker). The ability to communicate well is just as important as producing good content. We think you demonstrated both perfectly yesterday!

Cheng Xin Ting Michelle and Aidil Bin Mohd Suhaimi (Joint Runners Up, Best Speaker). Both of you certainly gave Yi Fei a tough run for the top spot. Keep it up!

A shoutout to all 11 teams who participated in this camp. We hope you’ve walked away with a clearer idea of what REITs are about. REITs are a complex blend of operational expertise working in tandem with strategic capital management. Knowing what assets to buy, divest or enhance is as important as deciding whether to raise equity, borrow money from the bank, or recycle capital. There’s much to learn in this massive sector, and the career opportunities are tremendous. We hope you’ll continue to explore further.

Many thanks to our panel of judges: Charlene Jayne-Chang, S E Ong, Leslie Yee, Cecilia Tan, and Nupur Joshi. And a note of sincere appreciation to our speakers and hosts who supported us in the earlier phases of the camp.

THANK YOU!

REITAS | SGX Group | NUS Business School, National University of Singapore

The finals of the NUS REIT Discovery Camp are now in progress!

In this “Final Showcase”, eight teams of students have been shortlisted to debate one another on burning questions in the REIT sector.

(i) Internal management vs external management:
Both have their strengths – and potential blind spots. How can we make a compelling case for one over the other?

(ii) Pure play vs diversification
Both have their own premises and logic. But which premise is more sound, and which logic works better? Or is the sweet spot somewhere in between?

(iii) Listing in Singapore vs listing in domestic markets
Is it strategically advantageous to list in a leading financial hub like Singapore, or are foreign REITs better off on home ground where local familiarity offers an edge?

(iv) Is now the time to buy SG-listed REITs owning US properties?
Though US offices have been grappling with low occupancy rates as workers continued to work from home, there are signs of recovery. Should investors exploit this window to buy US-centric REITs while they are still trading at a discount?

The stage is set for an afternoon of sharp insights and rigorous debate. Let the show begin – and stay tuned for the results!

REITAS | SGX Group | NUS Business School, National University of Singapore