‘Rents in Singapore have tumbled. They’ve literally fallen off a cliff’ says UK real-estate firm owner

SINGAPORE: In an interview with YouTube Max Chernov, Ms Juliet Standard, a Director at CitiProp Property Management, said that rental rates in Singapore have decreased, reversing skyrocketing prices in 2021 and especially 2022.

Ms Stannard, who had lived in Singapore for 30 years, said rental rates had fallen sharply. “They’ve literally fallen off a cliff. Just all of a sudden there’s been a correction with the supply of new properties.”

The UK-born real estate maven noted that these new properties are partially responsible for the drop in rental prices.

A number of properties have been completed after the lull in construction during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has freed up units for rent as HDB flats get occupied.

2022 had been “crazy” for the rental market, Ms Stannard said, which spread even until the beginning of the year.

However, this appears to have abated.

Mr Chernow’s video interview of Ms Stannard was published on Aug 13 (Sunday) and has already racked up over 40,000 views. However, it appears to have been taped a few months ago, perhaps in June, because she made reference to more foreigners being expected to return in July and August,  after the summer break of international schools.

She does not expect rental prices to come back all the way down to pre-spike levels, especially in areas such as Sentosa. But areas that are less in demand are more negotiable, and the market is likely to correct even more toward the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024.

“But it takes a few months for landlords to start accepting the fact that they’re not getting these peak prices anymore,” she added.

Would-be renters would be wise to look into East Coast, where “there’s more for your dollar,” said Ms Stannard.

She also mentioned River Valley as an area with “a lot of choice”, as well as Pasir Panjang and Keppel.

Interestingly, Ms Stannard said that new properties are more expensive but are smaller, although they may have fancier amenities. She advises people to look at older developments instead. /TISG

Record high: Choa Chu Kang executive apartment rented out for $6,600/month