Prime rents down almost 5% from last year

Rents of prime residential properties in Singapore fell 4.9 percent in the last one year to Q1 2015, according to the latest Knight Frank Prime Global Rental Index which tracks 18 cities.

On a quarterly basis, rents of high-end units in the city-state dipped 1.9 percent in Q1 from the previous three-month period.

A report by Colliers International in April noted that the slowdown in demand for luxury properties is putting pressure on an already weak leasing market.

It stated that newly completed homes and unsold inventory are competing with existing stock to vie for a limited pool of tenants who mainly comprise existing tenants searching for alternative accommodation. New expatriate arrivals also remained limited due to tight immigration policies.

Globally, Tokyo leads the other cities for the second consecutive quarter with prime rents up 8.1 percent from a year ago.

Knight Frank defines prime property as the top five percent of the housing market in each city.

Romesh Navaratnarajah, Singapore Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg

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