Singapore's housing rental prices continue downward trend in April

Singapore's rental prices for public housing units fell further in April, while rental prices for private apartments stayed the same, according to data by the Singapore Real Estate Exchange (SRX) on Wednesday.

Singapore's rental prices for public housing units fell by 0.6 percent in April from March.

On a year-on-year basis, the rental prices for public housing flats built by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) dipped by 4.3 percent in April.

Rental volume also declined by 2.2 percent, with an estimated 2,048 flats rented in April, SRX Property said.

Rental prices in the non-landed private housing units remained basically the same. On a yearly basis, rents dropped 5.4 percent. If compared to the peak in January 2013, rental prices dropped 16.1 percent.

The homes developed by private developers in Singapore are sold in a market separate from the public housing market, where the housing units are built by the government and sold to resident households with the principle of one unit for each household. About 80 percent of the resident population in Singapore live in such units.

The residential property prices in Singapore had been weakening in recent years after the government continued to put in place several rounds of tightening measures to cool the property market. Endit