Condo rents up 2.5% in August despite Ghost Month volume pullback

Overall prices in all regions rose compared to the same month in 2025.

Condo rental prices rose 2.5% in August compared to a year earlier, whilst rental volumes expanded by 4.5%, according to data from SRX and 99.co.

Overall rental prices in the Core Central Region (CCR), Rest of Central Region (RCR), and Outside Central Region (OCR) rose by 3%, 2.2%, and 2% year-on-year, respectively.

Compared to July, overall condo rental prices were stable, said SRX and 99.co, with CCR and RCR prices inching up 0.7% and 0.6%, respectively, whilst OCR declined by 0.4%.

An estimated 8,318 units were rented in August, lower by 13.6% compared to the 9,627 condos rented in July.

Rental volumes were higher by 4.5% than a year earlier and are 11.6% above August’s 5-year average.

By region, 35.2% of the condos rented were from OCR, 34.1% from the RCR, and 30.8% from the CCR.

Some tenants or landlords may have postponed transactions due to superstition, said Luqman Hakim, chief data & analytics officer at 99.co. The month of August is often referred to as “Ghost Month” or “Hunger Ghost Month.”

July was also an exceptionally active month, with condo rental volume reaching a record high, Hakim said.

“For condos, the combination of lower volume and stable overall rents suggests that demand softened without placing broad downward pressure on prices,” Hakim said.

Regional movements show that tenants remained selective, Hakim added.

Prices are likely to remain broadly stable or move modestly in either direction, evidenced by August volumes remaining above both year-ago levels and historical averages, which suggest underlying demand, Hakim said.