SINGAPORE - Rents for condominiums and private apartments weakened for the sixth straight month, falling a sharper 1.3 per cent in December from the previous month, and 6.2 per cent for the whole of 2016, according to flash estimates released by SRX Property on Wednesday (Jan 11).

Rents in December are now down 19.9 per cent compared to their peak in January 2013.

The HDB market saw rents edge up by 0.2 per cent from November, though they still lodged a 3.7 per cent fall for 2016. Compared to their peak in August 2013, HDB rents are now 12 per cent lower.

In the private leasing market, rents fell almost equally across all locations in 2016 - 6.2 per cent in the prime districts, 6.3 per cent in the city fringe and 6.1 per cent in outlying areas.

The number of condo and apartment leasings also dropped in December, down 2.2 per cent to 3,691 units from 3,775 in November.

Year on year though, rental volume last month was 17.1 per cent higher than the 3,152 units leased in December 2015.

The HDB rental market also saw fewer leasings in December, with an estimated 1,689 flats taken up, a 4.6 per cent decrease from 1,771 units in November. Year on year, rental volume last month fell by 13.5 per cent from December 2015.

As for HDB rents, those for three-room, five-room and executive flats rose by 0.8 per cent, 0.6 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively. On the other hand, rents for four-room flats dipped 0.5 per cent.