Condo rents up 1.2% while those for HDB dip 0.1%
Rents for non-landed private homes rose last month at their strongest pace since January but they went in the other direction for Housing Board units, according to flash data out yesterday.
Overall condo rents rose 1.2 per cent from October to November, up 4.6 per cent from November last year but still 16 per cent below their peak in January 2013.
Condo rents were up in all areas last month over the same month last year: core central region by 5.8 per cent; city fringe or rest of central region by 3.7 per cent; and suburbs or outside central region by 4.4 per cent.
The data from real estate portal SRX Property also showed 3,980 non-landed private units were leased last month, down 7.6 per cent from October, and 3.1 per cent lower than a year earlier.
However, volumes are 7.5 per cent higher than the five-year average for the month of November.
HDB DIPS
Meanwhile, HDB rents dipped 0.1 per cent last month from October, though they are still up by 1.6 per cent on November last year.
However, they are still off by 14.5 per cent from their peak in August 2013.
Mr Nicholas Mak, head of research and consultancy at ERA Realty, said a drop in private housing rental volume in November and December is expected.
"But the rise of the rental index points to the underlying robustness in the rental market," he said.
"The 0.1 per cent drop in HDB rental index is a minor change and it could be due to the year-end lull period."
Rents could face upward pressure next year, he added, as the new supply of completed private units drops to 5,122 - 70 per cent lower than the annual average supply of 17,055 units in the last five years.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore noted last month a "stability in rental prices" that suggests occupancy demand is adequate at this juncture to absorb newly completed units. - THE STRAITS TIMES
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