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RENTS HERE STILL LOWER THAN OTHER CITIES: URA

DESPITE rising rents, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said Singapore's private housing rents were still much lower than those in other global cities.

Figures released by the URA in July showed that rents are 31.2 per cent higher compared to a year ago.

They jumped 10.4 per cent in the second quarter of this year, compared to the 7.6 per cent rise in the first three months.

But URA said Singapore was less expensive than cities such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul and Mumbai.

Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang said last month in Parliament that Singapore must 'maintain vigilance' over its costs, as excessive cost increases will dampen growth prospects.

Data from property consultant Savills showed that rents for luxury residential apartments in prime areas in Singapore were lower than those in Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Here, tenants could expect to pay $5.56 per sq ft, or $5,560 a month, for a 1,000 sq ft apartment.

A similar apartment in Hong Kong would cost $6.43 psf and $6.20 psf in Tokyo.

But Singapore was more expensive than Shanghai and Beijing.

Global editor of financial careers website eFinancialCareers.com Sarah Butcher said that with rising accommodation costs, among other things, finance professionals will consider pursuing their careers in less expensive financial hubs.

But URA pointed out that there was ample supply in the pipeline. As at end-June, there were 56,182 uncompleted private apartment units. This supply would help to moderate the increase in rents and housing prices, it said.

HDB flats formed another pool of rental homes. More HDB owners were now able to sublet their entire flats after HDB relaxed the rules in March this year.

This has expanded the overall rental housing market to about 658,000 HDB flats.