Condo rents up 1.5% in March

Leasing activities usually recover from March following the CNY lull.

Overall condo rents edged up 0.3% MoM and 1.5% YoY in March, according to SRX Property’s flash report. Rents were down 17.7% from the peak in January 2013.

Core Central Region (CCR) rents climbed 2.3% MoM, whilst rents in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) and Outside Central Region (OCR) dipped 0.8% and 0.1%, respectively. On a year-on-year basis, condo rents across all regions recorded an increase of 1.6%, 0.3% and 2.5%, respectively.

Rental volume surged 41.4% MoM from February 2019, with an estimated 5,184 private condos rented out in March 2019. On a year-on-year basis, rental volume in March 2019 was 1.3% lower than the 5,250 units rented in 2018.

According to OrangeTee & Tie’s head of research and consultancy Christine Sun, the increase in rental volume could be attributed to a rise in transactions following a seasonal dip as the Chinese New Year period in February is a traditional lull for most property transactions.

“Looking at past data trends, March was one of the busiest months for leasing activities, as it recorded the second/ third highest monthly leasing transactions of the year for 2016 to 2018. Leasing activities usually pick up from March onward, which often marks the beginning of the most active leasing season that may last until the August-September period,” she explained.

A pick-up in rental demand from expats working in the service and hospitality industries was also observed in March. “The upcoming expansion plans for Singapore's two integrated resorts, Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa, may further boost rental demand from these sectors,” she noted.

Meanwhile, HDB rents inched up 0.2% MoM. HDB 4 Rooms and Executive rents both rose 0.8%, whilst 3 Rooms and 5 Rooms dropped 0.3% and 0.5% respectively. Rents in Mature Estates increased 0.7% MoM and those in Non-mature Estates slipped 0.5% MoM.

According to the SRX Property Price Index for HDB Rentals, YoY, overall HDB rents increased by 0.5%, although rents were down 15.1% from the peak in August 2013.

An estimated 2,220 HDB flats were rented in March 2019, representing a 58.3% increase from February 2019. YoY, rental volume was 5.4% lower than the 2,346 units rented in March 2018.