SINGAPORE - A breakneck surge in private residential rents hammered Singapore’s tenants with increases of about 21 per cent in the first nine months of 2022, and the pain looks set to continue this year.
Despite the pace slowing, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts predict that rents are set to rise by another 10 per cent to 15 per cent in 2023, driven by the country’s continued economic recovery, as well as resilient employment and household income.
An acute supply crunch and an influx of wealth into the financial hub have meant that the country’s property market has largely dodged a global slowdown driven by sharp hikes in interest rates. Data released on Monday showed that new private home sales fell for a third straight month in December to the lowest in almost 14 years as a lack of units kept buyers at bay.
The latest estimates echo an earlier analysis from Singapore-based real estate agency OrangeTee & Tie, which expects private rents to rise between 13 per cent and 16 per cent this year.