Condo rents pick up 1.1% MoM in December 2021

HDB rents also climbed 1.4% MoM, according to 99.co and SRX.

Condo rents climbed 1.1% month-on-month (MoM) in December 2021, according to a report by 99.co and SRX.

Rents in the Core Central Region (CCR), Rest of Central Region (RCR), and Outside of Central Region (OCR) inched up by 0.6%, 0.9%, and 1.7%, respectively.

Overall, rents during the period climbed 11.4% year-on-year, whilst per region, rents climbed by 11.6%, 10.1%, and 12.3% YoY, respectively. 

Rental volumes, however, dipped by 1% MoM as an estimated 4,512 units were rented in December 2021 compared to 4,559 units rented in the previous month. Per region, 39.7% of the total volumes were from OCR, 30.7% from RCR, and 29.6% from CCR.

Total rental volume in 2021 stood at 58,613, increasing 6.8% YoY.

Meanwhile, the HDB rents saw a 1.4% MoM increase in December 2021, with mature and non-mature estates rents increasing 0.1% and 2.8%, respectively. Three-room rents inched up by 0.8% MoM, four-room by 1.9%, five-room by 0.8%, and Executive rents by 1.1%.

Breaking down by room types, 37% of the total volumes in December 2021 were from four-room, 34.2% from three-room, 23.9% from five-room, and 4.9% from Executive.

Mature estates and non-mature estates rents rose 8.3% and 12.5% YoY, respectively, whilst three-room increased by 8.9%, four-room by 10.2%, five room by 11.2%, and executive rents by 8.8% YoY. 

HDB rental volumes also decreased by 1.2% MoM with an estimated 1,770 HDB flats rented compared to 1,792 units in November. Total rental volume in 2021 increased 4% YoY to 21,924, whilst rental volumes during the month increased 0.2% YoY.

Huttons CEO Mark Yip said the decline in rental volume in December 2021 is probably due to tightening of border measures to slow down the entry of imported Omicron cases.

“Nevertheless rental volume in both condo and HDB market are up for the whole year due to a confluence of factors such as work from home, delays in completion of new homes and long term pass holders from Malaysia who are unable to travel daily,” he said.

Yip added that the plan of the Singapore government to reopen its borders and restore quarantine-free travel for the vaccinated travellers will lead to more professionals coming to the country for work and support the rental market in 2022.

OrangeTee, meanwhile, said private rental demand declined for the second consecutive month in December possibly due to a “seasonal lull.” It also noted that some foreigners may also have returned to their countries over the past weeks resulting in lower rental demand.

“Rental prices may continue to rise due to the shrinking private housing supply and demand possibly picking up in the coming months. More PRs and foreigners may be returning from overseas, especially since the school holiday is ending or has ended for many international schools here,” it said.

It also said that more HDB flat owners may also sell their flats first and rent temporarily before moving into their new homes to avoid paying the additional buyers’ stamp duty which increased after two new cooling measures.