While the collective and land sale market heats up by the month, the home rental market remains weak.
Floridian, Bukit Timah. Picture iProperty
Both Private home and HDB rents down
Both private and HDB home rents have fallen last month. Private home rents fell 0.1% while HDB rents saw a steeper decline of 0.9%. This follows a 0.4% and 0.2% drop respectively in both markets in August. The consecutive fall in prices may not be too large a cause for concern yet. The recent en bloc sales of private properties and land could mean a movement of residents across the island. The rental market could yet pick up.
However, new properties launched a few years back are also entering the market full force, heating up the competition and possible driving prices down. In the private home rental market, prices have fallen 2% from last year while in the HDB market, rents were down 4.1%. Compared to the market’s peak in 2013, private home and HDB rental prices have fallen 19.2% and 14.7% since.
Decline in both rental prices and volume
Rental prices aside, the number of leases closed have also slipped. And again, for both private homes and HDB flats. 3,799 condominium units were tenanted last month, compared to the 4,345 in August. Rental volume fell 12.6% in September and 1.2% from the same month last year. In the HDB rental segment, the drop was slightly less significant. 1,625 HDB flats were rented out last month, compared to the 1,652 units in August. Year on year, HDB rental volume has fallen 1.6%.
As the fourth quarter commences and we approach the year-end, how will the markets react to recent events such as the en bloc fever and increased sales of private properties?
