The Urban Redevelopment Authority yesterday released reports that showed a slow down in the sharp rise of rentals for condos in key areas. Rentals for non-landed property in the core central region of Bukit Timah and Tanglin, for example, grew just 5.3%, less than half the rate of 12.2% achieved in the third quarter.

However, the drop in rental growth for the rest of the central region slid from 11.9% to 8.8%, and outside the central region, from 11.8% to 8.5%. As a whole, rent in private homes grew 6.8% from the last quarter of 2007, slowing from the 11.4% gain in the third quarter.

Overall, rents for private homes manage to surge 41.2% for the whole of last year. Finally, expatriates and tenants in the search for a rental apartment or renewing their existing lease can start to breathe easier.

It is expected that rent may continue to push forward in the coming months but at a more gradual rate. This however, may not be true for prime luxury homes, which will probably still  enjoys a healthy increase of up to 30%.

Rentals for HDB homes continues to grow strongly. The median rent for a 4 room flat rose from $1400 to $1500 in the last quarter, while that for 5 room grew to $1700. 

Interestingly, some 3300 flat owners were given approval to rent their flats. The total number of flats being rented out rose by a good 7% to 17400 in the last quarter of 2007. 

Rent may continue to rise for HDB flats as demands for such flats show no signs of slowing down. Very often, units located in good location with amenities were snap up the same day they were placed in the market.

As rent for private homes continues to rise, expats who are not willing to pay the hefty rent are searching for alternatives, most of the time leading them to HDB flats.

Private property prices in Singapore slowed down in the last quarter of 2007, compared to the previous three months, according to the latest data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

Analysts attributed this to the uncertainty in the financial markets and measures taken by the government to curb speculation in the private property sector.

Nevertheless, for the entire year, private property prices increases by 31% - barely 6% shy of the all-time highest in 1996.

HDB resale flats see a jump of 17.5% last year, while the price of industrial properties climbed 22.7% and retails shops cost 13.2% more on average.

The supply of brand-new private residential properties in the fourth quarter was down by 45% compared to the previous quarter. The  number of units sold dipped to just 1,397 - the lowest 4th quarter sales since 2003.

In total, 1,397 uncompleted residential units were sold in the fourth quarter, lesser than the 3,367 units sold in the third quarter, as new launches slowed to 1,686 units from 3,709 units.

Property consultants said worries that the financial market upheaval might spill over to the real economy made buyers more cautious.

"There are still genuine buyers out there and they have the deep pockets… and they are maintaining the prices. What is missing is the volume. The speculative demand has been narrowed because of the removal of deferred payment," said Dr Chua Yang Liang, head of Research & Consultancy, Jones Lang LaSalle.

Rental hikes has likewise slowed down to 6.8% in the last 3 months, with rentals in the fringe of prime districts and the suburban areas growing faster than those in the central area.
In general, rentals went up by almost 42% for the whole of 2007.

Here is a look at rentals for homes in private estates as well as four room HDB flats

 

Office rentals increased by 56% in 2007, going up by 8% in both the 3rd and 4th quarters. It seems there are still some genuine demand for office space, for as long as the economy is growing at a healthy rate.