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'Crazy' rental hikes for condo units drive some expats to rent HDB flats instead

SINGAPORE — After being laid off from his job at a technology company here early this year, American expatriate Eddie Rivera was hit by a double whammy of income loss and skyrocketing housing rents. 

American Eddie Rivera, 38, is looking to move from his Marina Bay two-bedroom condo to a two-room HDB flat in Telok Blangah.

American Eddie Rivera, 38, is looking to move from his Marina Bay two-bedroom condo to a two-room HDB flat in Telok Blangah.

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  • Rental prices for private housing shot up at the fastest pace in 15 years last year 
  • Some expatriates told TODAY that they have moved to HDB flats as the rent is cheaper while others are considering doing likewise 
  • Property agents and analysts said that they have seen a similar trend, though the number of such expatriates is not large

SINGAPORE — After being laid off from his job at a technology company here early this year, American expatriate Eddie Rivera was hit by a double whammy of income loss and skyrocketing housing rents. 

The 38-year-old, who is living by himself, is paying S$6,500 a month to rent a two-bedroom condominium unit in Marina Bay. 

But when his two-year lease ends in January 2024, Mr Rivera will have to pay S$9,500 a month — a 45 per cent increase from the current rate. 

“I thought I was going to stay in this building for many years and re-sign (the lease), but now there’s just no way I can afford that,” said Mr Rivera, who now runs Amateur Pool Association of Singapore, where expatriates and Singaporeans play billiards together.  

He is planning to look for a two-room Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat around the Telok Blangah area instead, with a rent of no more than S$3,000 a month. 

Mr Rivera is part of a small but growing number of expats who are moving from private condominiums into HDB flats as rising inflation and rents are biting into their paychecks.

Expatriates also said that they have had to say goodbye to their fellow expatriate friends in the past few months, as some have decided to return home or relocate to cheaper locales.

Last year, rental prices for private housing shot up at the fastest pace in 15 years, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority. 

Condominium rents increased 34.4 per cent year-on-year in 2022 while HDB flat rents went up 28.5 per cent, according to separate figures from property portals 99.co and SRX.

The latest flash report from the two portals also showed that condominium rents rose by 3.5 per cent in February this year compared to the month before. 

Rental volumes fell 18.6 per cent month-on-month, with 5,119 units rented in February compared to 6,285 units rented in January.

Rents for HDB flats rose at a lower rate of 1.2 per cent in February from the previous month, with rents for mature and non-mature estates increasing by 1.7 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively. 

Rental volumes for HDB flats decreased by 7.2 per cent month on month, with about 2,619 HDB flats rented in February 2023 compared to 2,822 units in January 2023.

There are no official figures on the number of expatriate professionals typically on employment passes renting HDB homes.

But property agents and analysts told TODAY they have been seeing more expatriates moving from condominiums to HDB flats or are keen to do so, though the numbers are not large.

‘AM I GOING TO BE HOMELESS?’

Ms Jenny Li came to Singapore 10 years ago for work.

The Chinese national lives with her husband, five-year-old daughter and mother in a three-bedroom condominium apartment at Boon Keng. 

The rent for her unit has almost doubled to S$6,000 a month from S$3,500 when she signed the lease two years ago. 

Calling the rent hike “crazy”, Ms Li said she tried to find another home in the same area but prices had become “ridiculous”. 

Landlords were already charging S$4,800 to S$5,000 a month for four-room HDB flats around the Boon Keng area, said Ms Li. 

“I was genuinely worried, like am I going to be homeless?” she said. 

Fortunately, Ms Li managed to find a home before her lease ends and will be paying S$3,800 a month for a four-room HDB flat in Sengkang. 

The 38-year-old chiropractor will be moving into her new flat on April 19. 

Similarly, 31-year-old Shriya moved from a condominium located in Tanah Merah to a HDB flat in Bedok last May. 

She declined to provide her full name as she has just started a new job as an IT application developer.

The Indian expatriate was looking for a bigger home space around that time as she had just given birth to her son.

But to her shock, she found that rental prices had increased sharply — a two-bedroom apartment in the condominium complex she was staying cost S$3,500 a month in May last year, up from the S$2,200 rent a month before. 

Ms Shriya said that the rent for the same unit now is S$4,000. 

So they chose to rent a three-room HDB flat in Bedok instead for S$3,000 a month. 

Ms Shriya said that her family initially took some time to adjust to living in a HDB estate as they were not used to having so many neighbours living side by side along a corridor, as well as not having amenities. 

But after living there for almost a year, Ms Shriya said that her family has gotten used to living in a HDB flat. 

It’s insane, I (will) have to use whatever I'm earning to pay for the rent
Ms Debapriya Biswas

Another expatriate who is racking her brain about rising rents is Ms Debapriya Biswas, 36, who owns a social media marketing agency. 

The Indian expatriate moved here with her husband and then four-year-old daughter in 2016. 

She had been paying S$2,600 a month for a two-bedroom apartment in a Simei condominium since her last lease in 2022, but rent has now doubled to S$5,000. 

“It’s insane, I (will) have to use whatever I'm earning to pay for the rent,” said Ms Biswas, whose lease ends in August. 

She added that she is reluctant to relocate as she loves Singapore and has formed connections with the people and culture here. 

“It’s really very draining for me to even think that I have to relocate. But the prices are really too high,” she said. 

For now, Ms Biswas is looking to rent a three-room HDB flat in the eastern part of Singapore for around S$2,500 to S$3,000 a month, though it has not been easy due to the high demand. 

Ms Debapriya Biswas, 36, had been paying S$2,600 a month for a two-bedroom apartment in a Simei condominium since her last lease in 2022, but rent has now doubled to S$5,000.

WHAT PROPERTY ANALYSTS AND AGENTS SAY 

Mr Vincent Woon, a group district director of Propnex Realty, said that starting from last year, he has seen a surge in enquiries for HDB flat rentals among expatriates, including those from China, India, France and Korea. 

Ms Corraine Choo, another property agent from Propnex, also said that she has noticed a trend of expatriates moving from private properties to HDB flats. 

Since the start of this year, she has closed around four to five deals per month for expatriates renting HDB flats, twice the number per month compared to last year. 

“The salaries of expats are not increasing as much as the rent for a condo unit, it's quite scary. It’s almost a 100 per cent increment to rent a condo compared to two years ago,” she said. 

Ms Christine Sun, senior vice-president of research and analytics at OrangeTee & Tie, noted that there has not been a big shift in expatriates moving from private properties to renting HDB flats. 

“However, agents mentioned that some are turning more receptive to the idea of renting HDB flats, especially younger, single expatriates,” she said. 

She added that they are more receptive to renting flats that are newer and nearer to the downtown area such as those in Queenstown, Bukit Merah and Tiong Bahru.

Agreeing, property market expert Nicholas Mak said that there are some expatriates who have moved because HDB flats, especially the newer ones, are of “high quality and similar to the standards of mass-market apartments overseas”. 

The rents are also usually cheaper than that of private housing, he added. 

Many expats do not own cars in Singapore due to the high prices so many prefer living near their place of work and public transportation such as MRT stations, he said. 

Ms Sun said that as of now, as the number of expatriates moving to HDB flats “does not seem to be very big”, demand from this group of tenants is unlikely to have a significant impact on the HDB rental market. 

However if the demand for HDB flat rentals among expatriates grows, it could possibly push rent prices higher, she said.

Related topics

rental private property HDB flats Housing and Development Board expats

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