SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Rents and volumes of non-landed private homes and Housing Board flats rose in the month of February, showing as yet no effect from the coronavirus outbreak, according to flash estimates from real estate portal SRX Property on Wednesday (March 11).
Condominium rents rose 0.1 per cent from January and are up 3.3 per cent year on year.
The rise in private rental volume could be due to some tenants returning to Singapore after the Chinese New Year holiday, said ERA Realty's head of research and consultancy Nicholas Mak.
Some tertiary educational institutions also start the new school term in February and March, leading foreign students at these schools to rent their accommodation in the month, he said.
Due to limited supply of private residential units, under normal market conditions, some demand could spill over to HDB rental, supporting the growth of HDB rental rates, he added.
But looking ahead for the private rental market, Mr Mak said the uncertainties arising from the Covid-19 outbreak could dampen leasing demand in the short term. Therefore, the private and public housing rental indices could move sideways and remain largely unchanged in the coming months until the viral outbreak is contained.
For February, rents in the core central region (CCR) rose 0.9 per cent month on month, rest of central region (RCR) rents decreased 0.4 per cent, and rents from the outside central region (OCR) held steady.
Rents in all regions were up year on year, with the CCR rising 5.1 per cent, the RCR up 2.9 per cent and the OCR increasing 2.4 per cent.
Meanwhile, volumes rebounded from a minor dip in January, rising 20.6 per cent with an estimated 4,830 units rented during the month compared with 4,006 units in January.
Year on year, rental volumes climbed 20.3 per cent, 32 per cent higher than the five-year average volume for the month of February.
As for the HDB rental market, rents rose 0.4 per cent from January and 2.4 per cent year on year.
Rents in mature estates and non-mature estates rose 0.5 per cent and 0.4 per cent from January respectively. Year on year, rents rose 2.7 per cent and 2.1 per cent respectively.
Except for executive flats' rents, all flat types experienced rent increases from January. Three-room flat rents rose 0.4 per cent, four-room rents went up 1.1 per cent and five-room rents increased 0.5 per cent. Rents for executive flats fell by 3.6 per cent.
Year on year, all flat types saw increases in rents. Three-room flat rents rose 2.2 per cent, four-room rents went up 3.1 per cent, while five-room rents increased 2.1 per cent. Rents for executive flats were flat.
HDB rental volumes also rose 11.5 per cent from January and 17.9 per cent year on year. Volumes were 15.2 per cent higher than the five-year average volume for February.
Four-room flat rentals took up 36.1 per cent of the volume for February, followed by 32 per cent from three-room flats, 25.5 per cent from five-room flats and 6.4 per cent from executive flats.
With additional information from The Straits Times
