Rents for Singapore's non-landed private homes down 1 pct in March

By：Xinhua Update：2017-04-13

Rental prices for Singapore's non-landed private homes decreased by 1.0 percent in March compared to the previous month, while rents for public housing flats dropped 0.5 percent month-on-month, said Real Estate Exchange (SRX Property) in its flash estimates on Wednesday.

On a month-on-month basis, rents for private homes in downtown, city fringe and suburban area dropped 1.2 percent, 1.3 percent and 0.7 percent in March respectively.

SRX Property said rental prices for private homes were down by 3.9 percent in March compared with that in March 2016.

In individual sectors, rents for private homes in downtown, city fringe and suburban area decreased 3.9 percent, 3.7 percent and 4.1 percent respectively. Rents in March was 19.1 percent down compared to its peak in January 2013.

Rental volume for non-landed private homes decreased by 14.6 percent in March month-on-month, with about 4,549 units rented out compared with 3,971 units rented in February.

While on a year-on-year basis, rental volume in March was 1.3 percent lower than 4,611 units rented in the same month last year.

As for HDB market, SRX Property said rents decreased by 0.5 percent from February to March. Rental prices for three-room, four-room and executive flats decreased by 1.1 percent, 0.2 percent, and 2.7 percent respectively. Rents for five-room flats post an increase of 0.1 percent in March month-on-month.

HDB rents in March dropped by 5.1 percent year-on-year, said SRX Property. Compared to the peak in August 2013, rents in March declined 13.9 percent.

On HDB rental volume, it was estimated that 2,045 HDB flats were rented out in March, compared to 1,546 units in the previous month, which registered a 32.1 percent decrease.

While on a year-on-year basis, rental volume in March decreased 7.5 percent compared with the same month last year.

About 80 percent of the resident population in Singapore live in units built by HDB and sold to eligible households. The public housing market is more tightly regulated than the private one.