Singapore condo rents up 0.6% in April, HDB rents down 0.1%: SRX

Singapore condo rents up 0.6% in April, HDB rents down 0.1%: SRX

Thu, May 16, 2019

RENTS for non-landed private homes in Singapore rose 0.6 per cent in April from March, while rents for HDB flats dipped 0.1 per cent, said real estate portal SRX on Wednesday.

Year on year, rents for condominiums and private apartments rose 2.4 per cent; all regions recorded increases.

The core central region (CCR) rose by 2.8 per cent, rest of central region (RCR) by 2.3 per cent and outside central region (OCR) by 2.0 per cent.

But as of last month, private home rents were down by 17.2 per cent from their high in January 2013.

In another sign of the soft market, the number of leasings dropped by 5 per cent to 4,970 units in April from 5,229 units in March.

Year on year, volume was 3.6 per cent lower than the 5,157 units rented out a year ago.

OrangeTee & Tie research and consultancy head Christine Sun said that rental demand is expected to remain "robust" as expatriates usually sign or renew contracts in the second and third quarters.

In the HDB market, rents crept up 0.2 per cent year on year. But HDB rents are still 15.1 per cent off their peak in August 2013.

Year on year, three-room and four-room rents dipped 0.4 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively, but five-room rents went up 0.5 per cent.

Executive rents stagnated, SRX said.

Rents in mature estates declined by 0.4 per cent, while those in non-mature estates climbed by a marginal 0.2 per cent compared to March.

Meanwhile, HDB rental volume fell 11 per cent to 2,006 flats in April from 2,254 in March.

The number rented out is 11.4 per cent lower than the 2,264 flats a year ago.

Ms Sun said HDB rentals have overall largely stabilised over the last year.

With an increasing supply of HDB flats reaching their five-year occupation period, there may be some downward pressure on HDB rents.