As more new and vacant units hit the market, rental prices are falling. Though this is in contrary to the rental volume which has been rising.
Rental volume rise as prices fall
The dip in rents has hit both the private property and HDB flat segments. Though rents were climbing since December 2017, they have fallen in March.
Orchard Road
In the core central region which includes the Orchard road area, private non-landed home rents fell 0.4%. Overall, rents in this segment fell 0.2% last month. In the suburbs, rental prices also slipped, by 0.5%. In the non-core central region which includes Tanjong Rhu for example, rental prices rose 0.3%.
In the HDB market, rents have fallen 0.8% from February. The number of properties leased has however increased. 4,580 private apartments were tenanted in March, a 28.3% increase from February. HDB rental volume was raised by a whopping 45.3% however. 2,036 units were leased in comparison to the 1,401 units in February. Overall, HDB rents were down 2.4% in March.
Vacancy rate and rental prices dependent on foreign workforce numbers
Rentals of 3-, 4- and 5-room HDB flats fell 0.7%, 1.4% and 0.9% respectively. On the other hand, rents for executive units rose 2.5%.
78 Redhill Lane. Picture: iProperty
The government has been more stringent with their immigration policies and the growth of the foreign workforce. Hence, numbers have somewhat stabilized over the past 2 years. With these figures in mind, landlords can expect a more or less steady but not overly exuberant demand for rental properties this year.
