Singapore private home rents increase for sixth consecutive quarter in Q1

The URA rental index rose 4.2%, the largest quarterly increase since Q2 2010.

Private home rents in Singapore recorded its sixth consecutive quarter of increase in Q1/2022. Savills attributes this to the fewer number of completions, along with strong rental demand and potential homebuyers selling their first home and renting before committing to another. 

The URA rental index for all private residential properties soared 4.2% QoQ in the first quarter of 2022, the largest quarterly increase since Q2/2010 when rents surged by 5.9%. 

Here’s more from Savills:

Rents of both landed and non-landed properties recorded growth, with landed properties registering a larger 5.3% increase compared to the 4.1% for non-landed properties. The stronger growth of rents for landed homes may be due to the tighter supply of rental homes and few new completions. In addition, as many continue to work from home, even for some days of the work week, there is demand for larger houses for family members. 

For non-landed homes, quarterly growth in rents was observed across all market segments, with the largest increase of 4.7% for the RCR, followed by 4.0% in the OCR and 3.8% in the CCR. The QoQ growth for these three market segments was higher than that recorded in the previous quarter.

The rents for high-end non-landed private residential projects tracked by Savills continued to rise for a fifth consecutive quarter and this time by a faster 3.6% QoQ to S$4.45 psf in Q1/2022. This was the largest QoQ expansion since Q2/2010 when the monthly rent rose by 4.3%. 

With the relaxing of travel restrictions and local safe management measures, more foreigners are more motivated to enter Singapore. Also, companies and individuals are attempting to relocate to Singapore from Hong Kong as a palliative to the strict pandemic measures there.