Monthly rents for luxury apartments slip 0.8% in Q2

Blame the quarterly dip to $5.64 per sq ft on stricter immigration rules, says Colliers.

According to Colliers International Research, the tightening of immigration controls somewhat dampened the spill-over leasing demand from foreigners who have postponed or abandoned their buying decisions due to the imposition of the ABSD.

"Coupled with the seasonal summer break lull, the leasing market was relatively quiet in the three months from
April to June. Although enquiries picked up towards the tail end of 2Q 2012, tenants with tightened housing budgets kept a lookout for more affordable housing alternatives in the high-end market segment while expatriate families with comparatively bigger housing budgets diverted their attention to landed properties, in search of a relatively more private and spacious environment," it said in a report.

Consequently, Colliers estimates that the average monthly gross rents of luxury/super-luxury apartments slipped 0.8% QoQ to $5.64 per sq ft in 2Q 2012.