The weakness in both private and HDB rents persisted last month, going by the latest flash data from SRX Property yesterday.

It showed that rents for condominium units and apartments slipped by 0.1 per cent in September compared with August, while HDB rents suffered a bigger 0.9 per cent month-on-month drop. In August, private rents dropped by 0.4 per cent month on month while HDB rents dipped 0.2 per cent.

In the private market, rents last month were down by 2 per cent from a year ago and 0.4 per cent in the year to date, said SRX Property. Compared with their peak in January 2013, rents are lower by 19.2 per cent.

In the HDB market, rents last month were down by 4.1 per cent from a year ago and 2.3 per cent so far this year. Compared with their peak in August 2013, HDB rents are 14.7 per cent lower.

Rental volume also dropped for both types of housing. The number of condo units and apartments rented out dropped by 12.6 per cent to 3,799 units last month from 4,345 in August. Year on year, their rental volume was 1.2 per cent lower.

The number of HDB flats rented out last month dropped by 1.6 per cent to 1,625 from 1,652 in August. Compared with the same month last year, the rental volume also decreased by 1.6 per cent.