Private residential leases drop 2% YoY in 1Q24

The OCR bucked this trend and posted a 1.5% YoY increase in leasing contracts.

The private residential leasing market contracted by 2% YoY in 1Q24, with only 19,680 leases inked during the period. The leases counted for the period excluding executive condominiums.

Savills said the 1Q24 record is also 10.9% lower than the past five-year average of 22,084 transactions.

The number of leasing contracts also declined across regions except the  Outside Central Region (OCR).

The OCR saw 1.5% YoY higher leasing contracts, whilst the Rest of Central Region (RCR) and the Core Central Region posted 6.4% YoY and 1.3% YoY declines, respectively. 

Savills attributed the higher number of leasing contracts in the OCR to “higher demand for more affordable homes, as well as a flux of new home supply, particularly in the second half of last year.”

Meanwhile, Savills also reported that vacancy rates have dropped across all market segments, led by the RCR, which reported a 1.5% QoQ decrease.

Behind RCR is OCR, with a 1.4% QoQ drop and the CCR, with a 0.9% QoQ decrease.