STOCKS OR PROPERTIES?? Which One Is The Better Investment In Singapore

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:01]Do you know what's one of the hardest questions to answer in Singapore when it comes to investing? It is, "Should I buy a property or invest in stocks?" But honestly, there's no 100% right or wrong answer. And from a property agent's perspective, of course I'll be a little bit more biased towards property. But given the fact that I've profited in stocks, in crypto, and of course in property as well, I'm going to share with you my views and the questions I ask my clients to consider before deciding which one is better for them in this season of their life. And yeah, I want to share with you something most people never think about when it comes to investing. Not from a property agent trying to sell property perspective, but from years of observing how other people actually built their wealth in Singapore. Because sometimes the real question is, which strategy helps you build capital more effectively based on your stage of life and something that you can sleep well after making the decision, of course. And the findings is based on meeting hundreds of buyers in the market, my on-the-ground observations, so that you can also gain clarity. my name is Marcus. I'm the Chief Growth Officer of the largest real estate agency in Singapore, and I currently lead the largest real estate team in Singapore as well. Over the years, I've worked with clients who made money from stocks, made money from crypto, made money from their businesses, and of course eventually making money from their property. And one pattern keeps appearing again and again, which is when people actually make good profits from the stock market or from their business, they tend to want to eventually still transfer part of their wealth into hard asset. I mean, things that you can see, touch, feel, and hold long term. And hopefully you can use it as well. Therefore, in today's video, I'm going to break down why property and stocks are actually correlated, why many investors treat stocks and property very differently, and last but not least, why leverage is the game changer in this case. Before we start, if you enjoy this kind of practical property and wealth content, please do me a favor by liking this video and subscribe to the channel if you have not already done so, because I I the system 70-over percent of you who are watching are not subscribed. Can you do me a favor to subscribe, please?

[00:02:00]Thank you so much in advance. Now, one thing many people didn't realize or nobody told them is that stocks and properties are quite correlated. Meaning to say that whenever the stock market goes up, usually the property market goes up in response as well. And typically the timeline will be around 1 to 2 quarters later. Why? Because property transactions takes time. If someone profited from stocks today, they still need time to cash out, to restructure their finances, to sell the property. Please wait for valuation and their loan approval. So, typically the effect comes 1 to 2 quarters later because after entering into the option, it also takes URA about 1 to 2 months to reflect the transaction itself. And the reason why is because during volatile times many investors naturally shift or gravitate towards harder assets. Why?

[00:02:44]Because psychologically property feels real, just like gold. In property context, you can stay inside, you can still rent it out, and you can physically see it. At least we'll say that property will not go to zero overnight cuz it's a hard asset.

[00:02:56]Comparing to opening your app one morning, seeing your portfolio suddenly down 10%. And people always say this, for long-term investor, we don't bother about short-term drops in pricing. But let's be honest, you don't check my I still have not mastered it. So, the emotional roller coaster is real in my case for the least. But jokes aside, what I meant earlier on is that when you have a bigger portfolio, that is how you feel. Because when you first start to invest with maybe 20 to 50,000, a 3% drop in your portfolio is pretty manageable because 3% of 50,000 is just about $1,500. But when your stock portfolio becomes 500,000, 1 million, or 1.5 million dollars, suddenly the emotional pressure becomes very different. Because when you are sleeping, the S&P 500, let's say, goes down by about 4% with a 500,000 invested capital, right? Means to say that overnight you got 20,000 poorer. And if your monthly income is about 10 to 15,000, you effectively lost away one entire month of hard work without pay.

[00:03:52]And that is when many investors start to think. Since today I have a larger capital, should I then diversify into something more stable? And another question investor will ask themselves is that since today I have a lot more capital, should I actually give my family a better lifestyle by shifting to a condo or landed property? Therefore, whenever clients ask me Marcus, is stocks or property better? My usual question I want them to think about is what is your objective at this stage of life? Because some people prioritize different things at different stages of their life. For example, dividends, your comfort, lifestyle, and passive income for this period of time, which is linked back to dividends as well. So, nothing wrong, but many of my clients who meet me for consult for property, they usually prioritize building capital, upgrading lifestyle later, shortening their retirement runway, and to create a stronger foundation for their family and for the next generation. Different goals, different strategies, but it really depends on the season of life, what you are actually prioritizing. But more often than not, whenever I hear somebody tell me that, "Hey, let's put our property buying plans on hold and focus on buying stocks." This actually is a form of fear disguised as logic, and it's a very interesting conversation. For example, if you are one of them thinking of actually prioritizing buying stocks now and putting your property plans on hold, ask yourself this question. If today you have $500,000 cash, will you want to put all your 500,000 into one singular counter, like for example, DBS shares, let me give you a trickier second to think. Or will you be actually using just fractional? Usually people will diversify, spread across multiple counters, maybe DBS, S&P 500, some tech stocks, other ETF, and perhaps some gold as well. And not to mention your breakdown into multiple tranches, and sometimes you may not even stick to the game plan to fully invest the 500,000.

[00:05:40]Fair enough for me to say that, but the same person may feel comfortable buying a $1.5 million property, a $2 million property. It is the exact same investment capital that we are talking about, a 5 to 700,000. And how many people do you really know 700,000 investable capital they invest everything into stocks? I don't know about you, but I see hundreds and hundreds of buyers putting in the same amount of capital into property every time you see a launch. In fact, in year 2025, there were total number of 25,000 transaction of sale. That means 25,000 buyers actually bought private property.

[00:06:12]So, you can calculate what is the population of people that are willing to invest this same amount of capital that they are afraid to invest into the stock market. Because I asked a lot of them with the 500,000 capital, they most likely only want to put 200,000 as an investment and take 300,000 as their savings, which I always call these the false sense of comfort. Why? Because you don't need to spend all your money into the down payment by buying just fractional. And I always think you have to ask yourself, are you effectively leaving gains on the table? Let me know inside the comments what you think. For DBS, it has been relatively hovering around 10 to 20 dollars range in the 2000s. And even during COVID, when many tech stocks 2x or 5x, it was still pretty flat at 30 plus for many years until it surged in 2024. So, question today is do you still believe that DBS can 2x in the next few years given the current stock price is about $60. Do you have confidence in 3 years time you repeat history and then it becomes 120 or 180? Let me know what you think inside the comments. And that's the reason why I say false sense of comfort because they are not forced to liquidate their 4 600,000 to 700,000 when they are buying DBS. They just need to buy fractional at 100 to 200,000. It just feels safer. And again, I would like to disclaim, I'm not anti-stock. And it's not because I think that DBS stocks cannot double. I'm just saying that if today, you as an investor, if your answer is a yes, you think that it can double, you are comfortable to put in 50% and eventually 100% of your investable capital in that certain asset class, please go ahead and do so. And And you are not willing to do that, then you have to question yourself, your own instincts, whether is this putting yourself into a false sense of comfort.

[00:07:47]And if you're somebody that has been stuck in your property decision, right?

[00:07:50]I do provide consultation. So, this is my number. Feel free to reach out to me and I will share with you what I think should be your priority in this current season. There's absolutely nothing wrong holding large amounts of cash because it gives psychological comfort. You open your bank account, you see money there, you feel secure even though you don't really need it at this point. But, sometimes that comfort becomes something pretty expensive. Why? Because you were waiting and delaying your property plans. Inflation will continue, asset prices continue moving up, construction cost is not going to lower, and land cost continues rising. So, sometimes after 4 years later, even though you have doubled your stock portfolio, the property prices also moved up by the same amount. So, technically, I always say it's still eventually a a zero-sum game. So, let me know inside the comments if you have personally witnessed this happen to your friends or your family or your parents, right?

[00:08:38]Comment down below growth so that I know that this relevant to the viewers out there. Another question I like asking my clients is that do you think it'll be easier or harder for your next generations to buy a private property?

[00:08:50]Most customers already know the answer, which is something impossible. And then I ask, would you like to give your children a head start? Because many families today are no longer just buying for themselves, they're thinking about future flexibility, legacy planning, stability, and to help their next generation have a head start in their financial planning. Why? Because some of my clients told me, they said that when I was young, I didn't have a luxury of parents helping me with my financial goals. So, when I'm a parent, I want to make sure that this is something that my children will not lose out to their peers. And whether we like it or not, property in Singapore has increasingly become a wealth preservation tool and something that grows along with inflation as well. Now, I'm going to take a bit of time to actually explain my observation on the DBS because recently a lot of people tell me buy DBS good because 5% and then there's very very good growth." And everybody knows DBS. First of all, I want to say DBS is a good stock. I also buy stocks, but and I'm definitely not in these stocks. Good company, dividends is very strong. But when my clients tell me, "I rather put my money into DBS." I ask them one simple question, "Do you really need the cash flow now from the dividends, which I call it comfort, or a bigger comfort later in life after building more capital?" Very different questions already because dividends give people cash flow and comfort. But but some people at their current stage of life, they actually need more capital growth.

[00:10:09]And I'm talking about myself. Even myself, I'm not prioritizing cash flow, nor comfort. And I'm actively earning an income, I should be using my income to get more leverage for me to fight against inflation. Now, last but not least, we're going to talk about why leverage changes the entire investment game plan because property is very different from stocks. Because most stock investors don't usually use high leverage. They don't borrow money to buy stocks. In fact, many people are very uncomfortable about borrowing heavily to buy stocks. Sometimes, with just a 25% down payment, you're able to control a much larger asset. And this is where return on equity becomes very powerful.

[00:10:45]Let me give you an example. Let's say you buy a $1 million property and you put a 25% down payment. That means your actual cash invested may be around 250,000. Now, imagine over time, this property appreciates by 500,000 and it becomes $1.5 million. You're saying that you actually made a 50% return on investment. But here's the key thing that many people miss. The gain is based on the full property value, not just your cash portion. So, with your 250,000 equity generating a 500,000 gross gain, that's effectively 200% return on equity gross. And this is why leverage changes the game completely. Not because property always grows faster than stocks, leverage is the key differentiating factor. That's why many property investors focus heavily on in return on equity, capital efficiency, and leverage. Whereas for stock, investors look at cash on cash returns, dividends, and portfolio appreciation without leverage. And again, I just want to restate over and over again, there's no right, no wrong, because leverage is also a double-edged sword. But understanding how leverage magnifies your eventual financial outcome changes the way you look at wealth building entirely. So, thanks for watching until the end. If you found this video useful, comment down below capital or cash flow.

[00:11:55]Which one are you prioritizing in this season? Because I'm also very curious to know what profile of my viewers are like. If you wish to get more videos like this, or you wish to check out my other property videos, I've done weekly postings about not just property reviews, but as well as lessons that I learned in my personal journey. And if you're considering entering the market, but you're unsure whether to invest, to wait, or how to structure your next move safely, you can reach out to me directly. Happy to share more with you.

[00:12:21]So, thanks for watching until the end.

[00:12:22]Like, comment, subscribe, share this with a friend that you think you can help, and I'll see you in my next week's video. Bye.

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