The rents of Housing Board flats as well as condominiums increased in November despite a decrease in the volume during the holiday season.
The rise in rents for condos was 0.2 percent over the prior month.
The increase was due to an 0.8 percent rise in the Outside Central Region (OCR) which was more than compensating for a decrease of 0.6 percent within the Core Central Region (CCR) and an increase of 0.1 percent in the Rest of the Central Region (RCR).
It is anticipated that the growth of the rental market for private rent will continue until 2025, with growth forecast between 2 to 4 percent. The recovery will be fueled by better macroeconomic conditions, increased job opportunities, and a smaller rental inventory.
The rise in rents month-to-month suggests that the recovery is still going after a decline during the first quarter of 2024. This could indicate an upward trend for 2025 because of a better economic outlook.
The price increase in November was “stable” and is due to the fact that landlords are not in a position to cut rents.
The prices for private housing may remain the same in 2024 as compared to last year’s, because of a higher demand resulting from the improving employment market.
The number of units rented in November 2024 will be 5,010 units, which is a 12.3 percent decrease from 5,712 units that were rented in the month prior.
RCR was responsible for 33.6 percent of the total rental volume, then CCR with 30.2 percent.
She was expecting a decrease in the leasing of condos, as many expatriates have their vacations in the final days of the year.
Certain expatriates renew leases or sign new ones in December, to ensure that they will have a place to reside prior to the beginning of the new year. The SRX data indicates that, in the past, the December rental volume was more than the November rental in 2022 and 2023.
The CCR, RCR and OCR all experienced a drop in price by 1.3 percent. However, rental volume rose by 0.8 percent.
Rents for public housing rose by 0.4 percent from the prior levels. The prices for mature estates increased by 0.2 percent, while the prices for non-matured estates increased by 0.5 percent.
The price for a four-room apartment reflected the growth by gaining 1.3 percent. This was offset by the decreases in the five-room apartments (down 0.7 percent) and executive apartments (down 1percent) since three-room rentals were steady.
HDB’s most recent rent increase month-to-month resulted in a rise of 4 percent over the last year.
This is still lower than the 10.1 percent increase in HDB rental rates in 2023.
HDB flats are an affordable alternative to condos, despite the cost differences.
The number of housing units leased by the housing industry for public use fell from 2,499 units to 2,155, which is a decrease of 13,8 percent. The HDB’s November 2024 rental rate was 18.3 percent less than the average of five years.
Based on the kind of flat, 32,7 percent of the total rental revenue came from three-roomers, 38.1 percent from four-roomers and 24,1% of five-roomers. The remainder of 5.1 percent of flats were executive.
HDB rents grew by 4.2 percent over last year. The volume of rents fell by 20 percent. The cost of all types of rooms was up year-over-year, with three-roomers (5.1 percent) and four-roomers (4.1 percent) being the most popular.
Executive flats experienced an increase of 3.6 percent increase over November 2023. Five-roomers rose by 2.8 percent..
He observes the indications of the shift “from an occupant’s market to an owner’s market”.
The HDB rental index has increased gradually with the stabilisation of condo rental rates.
In 2025, there will be fewer HDB flats that be in the minimum five-year occupancy period, and are (become qualified) available for rental as compared to 2024. There will be fewer HDB flats available for rental market in 2025 which could result in rent growth.