Rentals of private apartments saw a 0.9% uptick in Jan from Dec 2019, according to a report by SRX. Rents grew 2.9% YoY for the month. OrangeTee head of research Christine Sun attributes the stronger rental prices came on the back of fewer private homes being completed last year and some stock removed to make way for new housing units. Apartment rents in CCR saw the highest growth MoM with a 1.4% jump. Rents in OCR grew 0.7%, whilst Rents in RCR inched up 0.6%. In terms of volume, rentals posted a 4.9% slide MoM. An estimated 3,892 units were rented in Jan 2020 as compared to 4,094 units in Dec 2019. This was 7.5% lower than the 5-year average volume for the month of Jan. The rising rental prices resulted in a lower rental volume, said Sun. She also sights the fall in rents was due to less condo viewing opportunities for renters as landlords were on leave amidst the Lunar New Year holidays. Meanwhile, rental volumes were 22.5% lower YoY. 40.6% of the volume came from OCR in Jan. RCR accounted for 31.8% of volumes, whilst 27.6% of volumes came from CCR.... Continue Reading