Gross rental yields in uptick for first-half 2014

[SINGAPORE] With the recent resale prices of private condos falling at a faster clip than rents, gross rental yields picked up in the first half of this year in all regions across Singapore, after having slid since 2009.

Going by Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data compiled by STProperty, the recovery was led by suburban areas, especially the north-east.

Market watchers say that this rebound is likely to be a blip, as the leasing market is softening and vacancy rates are on the rise.

They reckon that, with buyers of private homes being more driven by the prospects of capital appreciation than by gross yields, the slight improvement in yields is unlikely to influence their buying decisions.

The report by STProperty yesterday derived median gross rental yield in each planning area based on the annualised median gross rent per sq ft and the median resale price per sq ft for that area, which implicitly assumes that units being rented out can fetch those resale prices based on recent transactions.…