Rising rents: Private home rentals up 1.3% in Q2 2011

The slowdown in rental growth appeared to be widespread across different residential segments as there has been a build-up of home supply from many new completions in recent quarters. According to the URA, island-wide median rents for all properties, excluding executive condominiums, reached a new high of S$3.26 per sq ft per month. In line with the rental increase, total transactions hit a fresh record of S$54,568,704 in Q2/2011.

The average monthly rent of high-end non-landed residential properties tracked by Savills held steady at S$5.46 per sq ft per month in Q2/2011, rising marginally by 0.2% quarter-on-quarter. On a year-on-year basis, prime rents increased 6% from S$5.15 per sq ft per month in Q2/2010.

The strong leasing demand reflects Singapore’s attractiveness to foreign companies who continued to expand their businesses in the reviewed quarter. As a sign of things to come, a 16,500 sq ft good-class bungalow (GCB) unit at Holland Park brokered by Savills was leased at an attractive rate of S$50,000 per month in July this year. Another similarly sized GCB unit at Swettenham Road was leased at S$42,000 per month in March.

The non-landed private-home segment also performed well. According to Savills leasing deals, a 2,385 sq ft unit at Capella was leased at S$24,500 per month while a 2,850 sq ft unit at The Orchard Residences was leased at S$20,000 per month. Both leases were transacted in July 2011.