Another month, another drop in rentals. Rents in private apartments are down 12.9% and HDB rents have declined 6.6% since their respective peaks.
There is little hope for landlords that rents will return to their pre-financial crisis levels. Excessive supply and changes in renter demographics mean more downward pressure on rents. The question is how far down is solid ground?
Check out August rental numbers below or read more analysis on the rental market at Your Money Will Rent, What?
A. Non-landed Private Residential Rental Market
1. Private rents declined 0.4%. According to the SRX Property Price Index for Non-landed Private Residential Rentals, rents decreased by 0.4% in August 2015 compared to July 2015. Non-landed Private Residential units in CCR and OCR experienced decreases in rents of 0.7% and 1.3% respectively whereas RCR had a 0.8% increase.
According to the SRX Property Price Index for Non-landed Private Rentals:
- Year-on-year, rents in August 2015 are down 5.7% from August 2014.
- Rents in August are 12.9% down compared with its peak in January 2013.
- There is no revision for rents change in July.
2. Rental volume decreased 1.6%. According to the SRX Property, an estimated 4,097 Non-landed Private Residential units were rented in August 2015. This represented a 1.6% decrease from 4,163 units rented in July 2015.
- Year-on-year, rental volume in August 2015 is 13.8% higher than 3,601 units rented in August 2014.
B. HDB Rental Market
1. HDB rents declined 0.6% in August. According to the SRX Property Price Index for HDB Rentals, rents declined by 0.6% from July to August 2015. HDB 3 and 4 Room flats posted 1.1%, and 0.9% decreases in rents respectively, while 5 Room and Executive flats saw 0.1% and 0.7% increases in rents.
According to the SRX Property Price Index for HDB Rentals:
- Year-on-year, rents in August 2015 are down 3.6% from August 2014.
- Rents in August are 6.6% down compared with its peak in August 2013.
- Rents change in July has been revised from 0.1% decrease to 0.1% increase.
According to the SRX Property Price Sub-Indices for HDB Rentals in Mature and Non-mature Estates:
- Rents in Mature Estates experienced a 0.8% decrease, while rents in Non-mature Estates posted a 0.4% decrease in August 2015.
- Year-on-year, rents of Non-mature Estates in August 2015 dropped 4.4% from August 2014.
- Year-on-year, rents of Mature Estates in August 2015 slipped 3.7% from August 2014.
2. HDB rental volume decreased 6.1% in August. According to the SRX Property, an estimated 1,646 HDB flats were rented in August 2015, a 6.1% decrease from 1,752 units rented in July 2015.
- Year-on-year, rental volume in August 2015 is almost flat compared to 1,668 units rented in August 2014.