Leasing demand in Singapore is up, despite some curbs on the issuance of employment passes.
This is according to property consultancy Savills.
Savills said the greater leasing demand is driven by an increasing number of overseas nationals who are here on a short-term project basis of between six months and a year, as well as the rising number of newly-wed couples waiting for their homes to be completed.
The total number of leases signed in Singapore reached 13,522 in the second quarter.
That is up 15.4 per cent on-quarter and up 7 per cent on-year.
At the same time, the vacancy rate of private residential units increased to 5.6 per cent after two previous quarters of decline.
This could be due to the many newly-completed mass-market projects in the northern region of Singapore over the past few months.
Meanwhile, rents for luxury market homes may remain stagnant until year-end as most of the new supply are unsold units held by developers who cannot lease them out.
But Savills said rents in the mass-market segment are likely to hold up, as leasing demand drifts from the high-end and mid-tier markets.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 21 Aug 2013