SINGAPORE: Private home rentals fell for the third consecutive quarter, slipping 0.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2024.

This follows a 1.9 per cent decline in the previous quarter and a 2.1 per cent fall in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Friday (Jul 26).

For the first half of 2024, overall rents dipped by 2.7 per cent, a stark contrast to the strong growth of 10.2 per cent in the first half of 2023 and 11.2 per cent for the same period in 2022.

"A higher supply of private properties has weighed down rents, as almost 30,000 homes were completed in 2022 and 2023," said OrangeTee Group's chief researcher and strategist Christine Sun.

Many locals who were renting have moved into permanent homes, she noted.

"In addition, the departure of some expatriates has made the market challenges even more pronounced, as some multinational corporations, tech firms, start-ups and financial institutions have been restructuring over the past two years," she added.

Property analysts noted, however, that the rental market may be turning a corner given the slower rate of decline in URA's rental index.

"There may be firmer demand in the months ahead from an improving employment market," said Mr Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at Huttons.

"Rents are likely to stabilise and bottom out in 2H 2024."

Rental demand may also pick up as some private rents are becoming "more attractive", drawing tenants back from public housing, Ms Sun said.


PRICES MODERATE FURTHER
URA's real estate statistics for the second quarter of this year also showed that private residential prices rose at a slower pace of 0.9 per cent compared with the 1.4 per cent increase in the previous quarter.

Prices of landed properties increased by 1.9 per cent in the second quarter, a moderation from the 2.6 per cent increase in the previous quarter.

Prices of non-landed properties increased by 0.6 per cent in the second quarter of the year, compared with the 1 per cent increase in the previous quarter.

Huttons' Mr Lee said the slower growth in private housing prices could be due to interest rates which have remained “higher for longer", as well as subdued economic and employment conditions.

“Interest rates which continued to remain high limited borrowings and thus capping increases in prices,” he added.

In terms of the volume of transactions, the resale segment did relatively well.

Resale private homes made up 77.4 per cent of the overall private residential transactions during the quarter. This is the largest proportion on record since 1996, according to PropNex.

"The pace of growth of private home prices has been flattening in the recent quarters, partly due to the lack of new launches and weaker new home sales – a segment that tended to pull up overall prices," said PropNext Realty CEO Ismail Gafoor.

"We expect the resale market to drive private home sales this year, and project that about 12,000 to 13,000 resale private homes could be transacted in the whole of 2024."

OUTLOOK
Private home prices are expected to maintain a "stable growth trajectory" for the rest of the year, given the economic outlook and favourable employment prospects, said Ms Sun.

"Since interest rates have not decreased as rapidly as expected, most buyers will likely continue to opt for affordable housing options, such as resale or smaller new private homes," she added.

"As a result, significant increases in home prices are not anticipated."

Analysts noted the expected launch of several major projects in the second half of the year, which could boost sales volume.

"For the full-year 2024, we project that developers’ sales could come in at around 5,500 to 6,000 units (excluding executive condominiums), while overall private home prices could climb by 4 per cent to 5 per cent in 2024," said Mr Gafoor.

ERA Singapore CEO Marcus Chu similarly revised its sales forecast to between 5,500 to 6,500 units by end-2024, a revision from the previous expectation of 7,000 to 8,000 units.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/p...-prices-4506376

pada muka, rental fellows damn greedy.wtf asking for 7K

yes..pls come down....

No loss to the owners, there's always tenants. Location, location, location...

0.8, 2.1, 1.9%?
i remember they increase like 2-3 fold after covid ended

second quarter dipped 0.8% lmao... u know how much is that? 1000 drop 8 dollars....

Drop 2-3% why kecoh??? Their price increased double right

Laa.. HDB also can sell at 1.7M.... this is nothing la...