Singapore’s soaring housing rent tops Hong Kong, reducing Lion City’s advantage in luring global talent
- Rents for private homes in some parts of the Southeast Asian business hub now surpass Hong Kong rents in terms of price per square foot
- Industry watchers expect rents in Singapore to continue rising in 2023, albeit at a much slower rate, as Hong Kong’s rebound
Singapore’s average home rent has surpassed even Hong Kong’s notoriously costly charges, as owners took advantage of surging demand in a landlords’ market to jack up their asking prices.
Singapore’s average monthly rent in the central region rose 29.7 per cent last year to S$5.77 (US$4.32) per square foot in December, according to the city’s Urban Renewal Authority (URA). Hong Kong’s average rent fell 4.1 per cent last year to HK$33.54 (US$4.27) per sq ft in December, Midland Realty said.
All over Hong Kong, average rental charges are now cheaper in US-dollar terms per sq ft than in Lion City, according to a comparison of prices across three major locations in both cities compiled by South China Morning Post. Tseung Kwan O in Kowloon, the Mid-Levels on Hong Kong Island, and even Yuen Long in the New Territories are now cheaper than comparable areas in Singapore, the data showed.
“Robust leasing demand has fuelled rental growth in Singapore, while in Hong Kong, the departure of expats and stricter Covid-19 measures in the past years have weighed on the residential-leasing market,” said Norris Low, director of corporate leasing at PropNex Realty, one of Singapore’s largest real estate agencies.
The hefty rent increases in Singapore have started to frustrate expatriates working there, according to Benjamin Chow, head of Asia real assets research at MSCI.