Private home rentals fall for first time in over three years in Q4

About 21,300 private residential units were completed in 2023, more than twice the number of completions in 2022. This was also the highest annual supply completion since 2016.

OrangeTee Group’s chief researcher and strategist Christine Sun said: “The rent drop may be due to increased competition as many private homes were completed last year, and total rental stock grew consequently.

“Tenants were also willing to move to cheaper alternatives in the public housing segment.”

She predicted that the downward pressure on rental prices may continue.

Real estate agency PropNex said the moderation in rentals can be partly attributed to increasing rental price resistance from tenants and the surge in private home completions.

“Past trends suggest that a strong completion pipeline can help to curb rental growth,” it added.

PRICES 

Prices of private residential properties rose by 2.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared with the 0.8 per cent increase in the previous quarter.

Non-landed property prices increased by 2.3 per cent in the fourth quarter, slightly higher than the 2.2 per cent rise in the preceding quarter.

Landed property prices rebounded from a 3.6 per cent decrease in the third quarter to an increase of 4.6 per cent in the fourth quarter.

For the whole of 2023, prices of private residential properties increased by 6.8 per cent, lower than the 8.6 per cent rise in 2022.