Singapore rents aren’t going anywhere, AI boom or not

SINGAPORE tenants have had two relatively calm years after rental increases blew past New York in the aftermath of the pandemic. No, the Asian financial centre didn’t elect a Zohran Mamdani to lower the cost of living – a tight labour market and healthy income growth have made housing affordability less of a worry than in 2023.

The competition for accommodation has also eased. Together with foreign-born permanent residents, expat employment-pass holders have driven demand for condominiums, historically. The latter group has thinned out a bit from its 2023 peak.

Meanwhile, a big wave of apartment supply is around the corner. The waning anxiety around rents is reflected in the steady slide in web searches linked to leasing activity. Around this time last year, I had expected tenants to have the upper hand in negotiations in 2025; it’s starting to look like 2026 won’t be much different.