Rents for private apartments, condos, HDB flats down in July: SRX

RENTALS for private condos and apartments in Singapore eased 0.3 per cent in July compared to June, led by a 0.4 per cent month-on-month fall in rents in Core Central Region, according to the July flash estimate released by SRX Property on Friday.

Rents in the suburbs or Outside Central Region contracted 0.3 per cent, followed by a 0.2 per cent dip in the city-fringe areas or Rest of Central Region.

The overall rental index for non-landed private homes, going by the July flash estimate, is down 5.7 per cent year on year and 12.5 per cent compared with its peak in January 2013.

The rent change for June has been revised from a 0.5 per cent decrease to a 0.3 per cent fall.

Leasing deals were entered into for an estimated 4,147 non-landed private homes last month, an increase of 7.3 per cent from 3,866 units in the previous month.

Year on year, the rental volume in July was up 18.2 per cent.

In the public housing segment, SRX's rental index for HDB flats dipped 0.1 per cent month-on-month in July, after inching up 0.1 per cent in June. HDB rents are down 0.7 per cent year on year and 6.1 per cent from the peak in August 2013.

On a month-on-month basis, rents of three, four and five-room HDB flats fell 0.4 per cent, 0.1 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively in July, while executive flats saw a 0.5 per cent rental appreciation over the same period.

SRX Property estimates rental contracts were inked for 1,692 HDB flats last month, down 5.4 per cent from 1,788 flats in June 2015.

Year on year, rental volume in July 2015 is almost flat compared to 1,698 units in July 2014, SRX added.