HDB and condo rents went up in November, while leasing volumes usually decline in this season
Prices for rental properties in both Housing Board flats and condominiums were up in November even as volumes fell amid the holiday season of year-end.
Rents for condos climbed 0.2 percent from the previous month.
The growth was mainly due to a 0.8% rise in the Outside Central Region (OCR) and more than offsetting a decline of 0.6 percent in the Core Central Region (CCR) as well as an increase of 0.1 % in the Rest of the Central Region (RCR).
The private rental market’s recovery is predicted to last until 2025, with expected growth ranging from 2 to 4 percent. This growth will be driven by better macroeconomic conditions, increased job opportunities, and a smaller rental inventory.
The rise in monthly growth indicates the continuation of a recovery after an upswing in the first half of 2024, suggesting an upward trend in condo rentals in 2025, which is backed by a positive economic outlook.
The price growth in November “stable” and was attributed to less pressure on landlords lower rents.
The private housing rental rates for 2024 could remain unchanged from the levels of last year in light of the stronger demand from an expanding job market.
With the estimated rental of 5,010 units in November in 2024, rental volumes dropped 12.3 per cent from 5,712 units rented the prior month.
The OCR contributed 36.3 percent of the total rental volumes and was then 33.6 per cent from RCR and 30.2 per cent from CCR.
The decrease in the volume of leasing for condos was within her expectations, since many expatriates go on holiday during the year-end period.
Some expatriates will renew or sign new leases in December, to ensure that they have a place in which to live before the start of the new year. This is evident from previous SRX reports, showing that rental volumes in December were higher than the amount of rent in November in 2022 and 2023.
Year-to-year condo rental rates fell 1.3 percent because of lower prices across the CCR (down 2.4 percent), RCR (down 1.4 percent) and OCR (down 1.5 percent), though rental volumes were 0.8 percent higher.
Rents for public housing in November increased by 0.4 percent over the previous month’s levels which was reflected in prices for mature estates rising by 0.2 percent and in non-mature estates increasing by 0.5 percent.
The four-room rental price supported this increase, with an increase of 1.3 percent. This offset the declines in five-room homes (down 0.7 percent) and executive apartments (down by 1%) since three-room rentals were relatively stable.
The latest month-on-month increase in HDB rental costs resulted the total price increase of 4 % for the year to date.
The rise is still less than the 10.1% rise in HDB rents in 2023.
HDB flats remain cheaper than condos, despite the cost different.
The number of units leased by the housing industry for public use fell from 2,499 to 2,155units, an increase of 13,8 percent. The HDB’s rental volume was also 18.3 percent less than the average of five years.
By room type, 32.7 percent of total rental volumes came from three-room flats, with 38.1 per cent from four-roomers, and 24.1 per cent 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 volumes were down 20 per cent. All types of rooms saw year-over-year price increases, led by three-roomers (5.1 percent) and four-roomers (4.1 per cent).
Executive flats saw the 3.6 per cent increase from the November 2023 level, while five-roomers rose 2.8 percent.
He sees the indicators of a shift “from a tenant’s market to the landowner’s market”.
This is given stabilising the rates of rental for condominiums and their volumes and gradual improvements in the HDB rental index.
In 2025, there will be fewer HDB flats that will have reached the minimum five-year occupancy period, and are (become eligible) available for rental as compared to 2024. There will be less HDB flats available for rental market by 2025, which could result in an increase in rental.
