Singapore private residential rents to remain flat in 2025

Learn more about what to expect in the leasing market for the rest of the year.

In a report, Savills said the new US trade tariffs in April 2025 have added a heavier dose of uncertainty to businesses not only here, but also worldwide.

“Given that countries are still in the throes of negotiations with the US to lower the tariffs levied on them, the time needed to make business decisions will be stretched. Besides, tariffs could also rebound if the countries happened to have some policy misalignments with the US,” the report added.

Here’s more from Savills:

For many countries, the other big impact, in fact, much bigger than for general tariffs, surrounds the pharmaceutical and semiconductor industries, which so far has not been hit with tariffs. What is disconcerting is that come midAugust, the tariffs on pharmaceuticals may be announced but that’s not the end. It could ratchet up over the course of 12 to 18 months thereafter.

The sum of all this is a likely slowdown in investments which could ultimately affect the bottom line of companies here. With this in mind, we believe that many companies will try to control costs even more assiduously and for Singapore, one way is to limit both the rental budgets and foreign headcounts they have.

Nevertheless, as the slate of new completions come to the rental market, it adds to the pool of private residential properties for rent. Tenants will then have greater options to choose in terms of location and getting a newer apartment with the same budget. Unless uncertainty levels rise sharply, we do not expect rents to fall much because the higher property taxes landlords now have to pay will make them hold out longer for their asking rent.

Also, inflationary pressures are driving up conservancy charges, giving landlords another reason not to give in to low ball rental offers. At a more granular level, we believe that the one- and two-bedroom types may see greater negative rental pressures and so are the five-bedroom types.

The reason for smaller units facing rental pressures on the downside is that there will be new completions coming online in the coming quarters. For the five-bedroom types, tenants who face rental budget cuts may decide to move to the smaller three or four-bedroom units.

Overall, for 2025, rents are expected to stay flat compared to 2024.