Tough 2021 for residential landlords as rent budgets, foreign workforce shrink

Vacancy rate seen rising to 7% and 8-9% for 2020 and 2021, respectively; posh homes could see rents fall 2-3% for 2020

Published Mon, Jan 4, 2021 · 05:50 AM

Singapore property

Singapore

IT'S going to be another gloomy year for private residential landlords as cuts to tenants' rental budgets continue while more foreigners lose their jobs in Singapore.

And don't hold out for the Chinese tech companies which are expanding in Singapore to fill the increasing number of empty homes, as it's far from clear how many expats they will send here.

The vacancy rate is estimated to rise to 7 per cent and 8-9 per cent for full-year 2020 and 2021, respectively.

At end-Q3 2020, the vacancy rate was 6.2 per cent, and there were 23,171 units of vacant private residential units (both landed and non-landed). It was up from 5.4 per cent in Q2 2020 and 20,182 vacant units.

The highest vacancy rate since 2010 was in Q2 2016 when it hit 8.9 per cent, which resulted in 30,310 hom…