November saw a rise in HDB and condo rents, even as leasing volumes generally fall during the season
Rents for Housing Board flats as well as condominiums grew in November despite a decline in volume during the holiday season.
The increase in condo rents was 0.2 percent over the previous month.
The rise was mostly due to an 0.8% rise in the Outside Central Region (OCR) which was more than offsetting a decline of 0.6 % within the Central Region (CCR) as well as a fall of 0.1 % in the Rest of the Central Region (RCR).
The market’s growth in private rentals is expected to continue until 2025, with expected growth between 2 and 4 per cent. This growth is likely to be driven by improving macroeconomic conditions, more job opportunities, and a limited rental inventory.
The rising condo rental rates month-over-month shows that the recovery is continuing after a decline during the first quarter of 2024. This could indicate an rising trend in 2025 because of a better economic outlook.
The price increase in November was “stable” and can be attributed to the fact that landlords are less than compelled to lower rents.
Rents in private housing could be unchanged for 2024 compared to the previous year due to a stronger demand on account of an improved employment market.
The total amount of units rented out for November 2024 will be 5,010, which is a 12.3 percent drop from the 5,712 units rented during the previous month.
RCR made up 33.6 percent of the total rental volume being followed by CCR at 30.2 percent.
She anticipated a drop in condo leases, considering that many expatriates take their holidays at the end of the year.
Some expatriates renew leases or sign new ones in December to make sure they will have a place to reside prior to the beginning of the new year. The SRX data shows that, in the past December rental volumes were greater than those of November in 2022 and in 2023.
The CCR, RCR and OCR all saw decreases in prices by 1.3 percent. However, rental volume were up 0.8 percent.
Rents for public housing rose by 0.4% from November’s previous levels. The prices for mature estates rose by 0.2 %, while prices for non-matured estates rose by 0.5 percent.
Four-room rental prices supported this growth by registering a 1.3 per cent rise, despite declines from five-room flats (down 0.7 percent) as well as executive flats (down 1 percent) as three-room rentals held constant.
The most recent month-on-month rise in HDB rental rates resulted in an overall increase of 4 % over the course of the year.
However, it’s lower than the 10.1 percent increase in HDB rent prices seen in 2023.
HDB flats are cheaper than condos, despite the cost difference.
The number of housing units leased by the public housing sector dropped from 2,499 to 2,155units, an increase of 13,8 percent. November’s HDB rentals in 2024 were 18.3 percent lower than the average of five years for the month.
Based on the type of flat, 32,7% of the total rental revenue came from three-roomers. 38,1 percent from four-roomers and 24,1% from five-roomers. The remainder of 5.1 percent were executive flats.
Year-on-year, HDB rents were 4.2 per cent higher than the prior year, while the numbers were down 20 per cent. All room types recorded year-on-year price increases, with the most notable being three-roomers (5.1 per cent) and four-roomers (4.1 per cent).
Executive flats experienced an 3.6 percentage increase when compared to November 2023, while five-roomers increased by 2.8 percent..
He sees the indications of a shift “from an occupant’s market to a landowner’s market”.
The HDB rental index has risen consistently with the stabilization of the condominium rental rate.
In 2025 the number of HDB flats which will be completed by the five-year period of minimum occupancy and (become) qualified to be rented out compared with 2024. Hence, there would be a lower supply of new HDB flats available in the rental market, which may contribute to rental growth.
