Condo rents fall 1.4% in May

This is led by the decline in all three regions.

Condo rentals fell 1.4% MoM in May from April although it remained unchanged from a year earlier, according to SRX Property.

All three regions registered decline in rents with the Core Central Region (CCR), Rest of Central Region (RCR), and Outside Central Region (OCR) falling by 1.6%, 1.6% and 1.2%, respectively. On a yearly basis, CCR and RCR both increased by 0.4% YoY whilst OCR fell 0.7% YoY.

Meanwhile, rental volumes crashed 45.7% YoY but increased 1% MoM to 2,881 units in May from 2,853 units in April. However, the report noted that these figures are 38.8% lower than the 5-year average volume for the month of May.

OCR accounted for 43% of the total volume, 31.6% is from RCR, whilst the remaining 25.4% is from CCR.

“Although rental volumes rose slightly last month by 1% MoM for the private market, it is still significantly below the levels seen before the circuit breaker period, where the average rental volume was 4,867 units from May 2019 to March 2020,” said Christine Sun, head of research and consultancy at OrangeTee & Tie.

On the other hand, HDB rents inched down 0.8% YoY with mature estates rents decreasing by 2.1% YoY whilst non-mature estates rents increased by 0.5% YoY.

Except for four-room rents which remain unchanged, all room types experience rent decreased with three-room falling 1.3% YoY, five-room by 1.8% YoY, and executive room by 0.1% YoY.

Further, HDB rental volumes decreased 45.1% YoY from 2019 with 1,147 HDB flats in May, a 4.2% MoM fall compared to the 1,197 units in April. Volumes were also 42% lower than the five-year average volume for the month of October.

Breaking down by room types, 35.3% of the total volumes are from four-room, 33.5% from three-room, 25.8% from five-room and 5.4% from executive room.

On a monthly basis, HDB rents decreased 1.3% MoM in May, as mature and non-mature estates rents decreased by 1.6% and 1%,respectively, over the same period.

According to room types, three-room, four-room and five-room rents fall by 1.8%, 0.6% and 1.5% respectively, whilst executive room rents remain stable.

The rental market was affected by the travel restrictions imposed in many countries as well as the circuit breaker measures. Nonetheless, Sun notes that more rental renewals are observed as the foreign expats who were already here need a place of residence whilst many chose to avoid the hassle of moving to a new home.

The rental situation may improve when travel restrictions are gradually eased and house viewings permitted as the economy gradually reopens. “The rental market may face some challenges ahead as the hiring outlook is increasingly cautious amid the growing economic headwinds,” Sun added.