http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/...ncies-20130112
Rental levels sliding, especially on city fringe: Property agencies
Published on Jan 12, 2013
By Melissa Tan
RENTAL levels have mostly been sliding, particularly on the city fringe, according to a report by a group of real estate agencies.
They fell 1 per cent to $3.91 per sq ft (psf) a month in the final three months of last year, from $3.95 psf the preceding quarter, the Singapore Real Estate Exchange (SRX) said in the report released yesterday.
City fringe rentals fell the most, down 3.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter in October to December last year. In the city centre, rentals fell 0.8 per cent over the same timeframe.
However, suburban rentals rose 1.3 per cent from the third to the fourth quarter of last year.
The situation for private condominium resales was generally the opposite of the rental market.
Condo resale prices rose across the board, driven mainly by resales of suburban homes.
Overall, they rose 6.6 per cent from an average $1,157 psf in the third quarter of last year to $1,233 psf in the fourth quarter. The biggest gain was seen in suburban areas, with a 4.8 per cent increase quarter-on-quarter. The city centre was close behind with a 4.6 per cent rise. Resale prices on the city fringe grew 3.6 per cent.
The city centre's higher-than-expected growth rate was a result of its strong performance last month, the SRX said. Average unit resale prices in the city centre hit $1,899 psf last month, a solid 8.8 per cent higher than November's average of $1,746 psf.
The SRX said the strong growth last month was partly due to a "possible record-breaking price" paid for residential land by Hong Kong's Swire Properties in a Hampton Court purchase en bloc. The company filed 12 caveats on a single day in December.
The combination of higher resale prices and lower monthly rentals drove down rental yields in October through December. The overall rental yield for the fourth quarter fell to 3.8 per cent, down from 4.1 per cent in the third quarter.
Also, though resale prices rose, the fourth quarter saw a seasonal drop in transactions, the SRX said. The total number of resale transactions fell 5.5 per cent from the third to the fourth quarter.
Official data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority will be out later this month.
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