Condo rents recover slightly, while HDB rents stay flat

Rents of condominiums in Singapore inched up in July after two straight months of decline, while those of Housing Board flats held largely steady from June, according to monthly flash data from real estate portal SRX Property yesterday.

The number of units leased also saw a month-on-month increase for both condo and HDB homes. For non-landed private homes, overall rents last month improved 0.8 % from June, and were up 2.7 % on a year-on-year basis. Previously, condo rents had dipped 0.2 % month on month in both June and May.

Compared with their peak in January 2013, condo rents last month have fallen 16.9 %. Prime apartments in the core central region posted the largest increase of 1.1 % last month from June, followed by the suburbs or outside central region with 1 % growth, and the city fringes or rest of central region, which were up 0.3 %.

Ms Christine Sun, head of research and consultancy at OrangeTee & Tie, said: "The current stock of completed luxury homes has decreased since some developments were demolished to make way for newer projects after the recent collective-sale cycle."

The volume of condo units leased grew by 13 % on a monthly basis, with about 5,408 condo units rented last month compared with 4,785 units in June. Year on year, condo rental volume inched down 0.9 %.

Nonetheless, last month's volume for condos was still 18.2 % higher than the five-year average for the month of July. It was also above the 12-month average of 4,782 units from July last year to July this year, which indicates that rental demand is currently very healthy, said Ms Sun.

Overall HDB rents remained flat on a monthly basis in July, slipping marginally by 0.08 % from June, but up 1 % year on year.

Three-room and executive HDB flats saw rents rising by 1 % and 2.5 %, respectively, last month from June. Four-room and five-room flat rents fell by 0.9 % and 0.5 %, respectively.

In non-mature estates, rents for HDB flats edged up by 0.4 % month on month, while those in mature estates dropped by 0.4 %. Compared with their peak in August 2013, HDB rents last month have declined 14.5 %.

The volume of HDB units leased increased by 4.9 % month on month, with 1,962 rented last month versus 1,870 flats in June. Year on year, HDB rental volume fell 2.7 %. But last month's volume for HDB flats was 6.1 % higher than the five-year average for the month of July.

Adapted From The Straits Times, August 16 2019