Residential leasing market active in Q1 as more people return to Singapore

The leasing volume was up 8.7% to  23,567 year-on-year.

According to Savills, the leasing volume of private residential units fell for the second consecutive quarter by 1.2% QoQ to 23,567 in Q1/2021. Nevertheless, this was still 8.7% higher than the 21,684 in the same period a year ago. 

The year-on-year (YoY) increase in rental volume may be due to higher rental demand as more people shift back to Singapore, as well as those sourcing for short-term accommodation while waiting for their homes to be completed due to construction delays and tenants renewing their leases as travel restrictions continue to be in place at many countries. 

Here’s more from Savills:

Among the 23,567 leasing transactions in the quarter, 22,233 were for non-landed properties, which recorded a 1.0% QoQ decline, a smaller decrease than the 4.9% decline for landed properties. The nonlanded rental transactions fell across all market segments, albeit at a moderated pace compared to that of Q4/2020, with the largest QoQ decline of 2.2% in Rest of Central Region (RCR). The leasing volume of nonlanded homes in CCR and Outside Central Region (OCR) fell marginally by 0.2% and 0.5% QoQ respectively in the quarter. 

Out of the top five non-landed projects with the highest number of leasing transactions in Q1/2021, most were located in the CCR. While the rental transactions for the developments in the CCR were largely for smaller units (one- and two-bedroom units), there was also a high proportion of one-bedroom units that were let out in developments such as The Poiz Residences, located in RCR. 

Out of the 137 rental transactions at The Poiz Residences in the quarter, 88 (64%) were for one bedroom units. This worked out to around 27% of the total number of 327 one-bedroom units in the development. The higher proportion of smaller units being let out in this development may appeal to tenants with its city-fringe location and seamless accessibility to the Potong Pasir MRT station as well as the project being a mix.