The Curious Case of Rental Prices in Singapore
According to the latest Home Attainability Index from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Asia Pacific Centre for Housing, Singapore has overtaken Hong Kong as the most expensive Asia-Pacific city for private homes. The private rental homes in the country now have the highest monthly rent in the region at $2,600, far higher than other cities. The turnaround occurred following home prices in Hong Kong having “dropped substantially” in 2022 due to a significant increase in mortgage interest rates as it keeps pace with the US Federal Reserve. Despite Singapore’s private homes being the most expensive in the region, the city state’s homeownership rates haven’t come down—reaching 89.3 percent.
However, Singapore’s rental price growth has slowed in the second quarter, pouring water on a years-long flare that sapped affordability and threatened to dent the city-state’s appeal as a finance hub. Going ahead, the increase in rental costs is expected to ease further as new units become available. The city is due 20,000 private housing completions this year alone, which will make it the highest annual supply since 2017. The measures adopted by the government to ease the flaring rates have also helped the tenants significantly.
Talking to CEO Insights, Gary Chua, Co-Founder of Navis, who is also working for one of Singapore’s leading real estate agencies, Huttons Asia, says, “Singapore's real estate market is soaring high at present. Hence, developments in the space seem promising, given the evolving demands. Especially, Singapore's residential property market is reasonably boosting it. My advice to the bussing industry leaders is to explore the horizons across the sector and not limit yourself to anything if you are really passionate about real estate.” The real estate entrepreneurs in the city-state will have to create more appealing propositions for the customers within the limitations.