SINGAPORE - As leasings bounced back after the Chinese New Year lull, rents for non-landed private homes edged up 0.3 per cent in March from February, while those for HDB flats inched up 0.2 per cent.

This is according to flash estimates from real estate portal SRX on Wednesday (April 10). Condominium and private apartment rents remained unchanged in February from January, while HDB rents dipped a revised 0.1 per cent, said SRX.

Year on year, rents for non-landed private properties increased by 1.5 per cent from March 2018. Compared to its January 2013 peak, rents were still down 17.7 per cent.

OrangeTee & Tie research and consultancy head Christine Sun said leasing activities picked up significantly for both the private and public housing sectors last month.

Rental transactions for condos jumped 41.4 per cent month on month in March, and HDB flats saw rental volume surge 58.3 per cent.

Ms Sun explained: "The increase in rental volume could be attributed to a rise in transactions following a seasonal dip - when the Chinese New Year period in February is a traditional lull for most property transactions."

Looking at past data trends, she said March was one of the busiest months for leasing activities, as it recorded the second or third-highest monthly leasing transactions of the year for 2016 to 2018.

She added that leasing activities usually pick up from March, which often marks the beginning of the most active leasing season that may last until the August-September period.

But year on year, rental volume in March 2019 was still 1.3 per cent lower than the 5,250 units rented in March 2018.

Ms Sun noted a recent pick-up in rental demand from expats working in the service and hospitality industries, and highlighted the upcoming expansion of Singapore's two integrated resorts - Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa - as potential catalysts for further rental demand from these sectors.