Rents of Singapore private homes, HDB flats fall in February: SRX

RENTALS of both private apartments/condos and Housing & Development Board (HDB) flats fell month on month in February 2016, SRX Property's latest flash estimates showed.

Last month's 0.7 per cent drop in the private segment came after slight increases in the preceding two months.

SRX Property's flash estimates for its overall rental index for non-landed private homes in February 2016 also reflect a 5 per cent year-on-year drop. From the peak in January 2013, the rental index for February 2016 was down 15.2 per cent.

SRX Property said non-landed private residential rents in Core Central Region rose 1.3 per cent month on month in February. However, they eased 1.8 per cent in the city-fringe or Rest of Central Region and also contracted by 1.3 per cent in the suburbs or Outside Central Region.

SRX Property also reported a 17.5 per cent decline in the volume of rental transactions to an estimated 2,797 non-landed private homes last month from 3,389 units in January 2016.

Year on year, the rental volume in February 2016 was a notch or 0.5 per cent above the 2,784 units in February 2015.

SRX Property's overall rental index for HDB flats shed 0.9 per cent month on month in February 2016, contrasting with a 0.4 per cent gain posted in January 2016.

The latest flash estimate translates to a 3.7 per cent year-on-year decline. From the August 2013 peak, February's rental index value is down 9.1 per cent.

Year on year, rents of HDB flats in mature estates slipped 3.6 per cent between February 2015 and February 2016. The drop was more pronounced, at 4.6 per cent, for rents in non-mature estates.

The volume of leasing transactions shrank 20.1 per cent to an estimated 1,371 HDB flats last month from 1,715 units in the preceding month. Year on year, the drop was 11.3 per cent.