How is the rental market at the moment?

[aargon]

I was reading forum posts back in January about people renegotiating their contracts and landlords fearing rental prices will drop 15% - 20% during the year.

I wonder if that has happened ie rental prices dropping and is it already priced into the costs being advertised on this site?

Common sense in me is saying the prices I see on this site are the same as they were one year ago. And if you I want the 10%-20% discount, I`ll need to brush up on my negotiation skills, research what a "reasonable" current market rate is, and shop around.

Interested to hear any new comers to Singapore willing to share their experiences.

Thanks

[Edmundfo]

I was reading forum posts back in January about people renegotiating their contracts and landlords fearing rental prices will drop 15% - 20% during the year.

I wonder if that has happened ie rental prices dropping and is it already priced into the costs being advertised on this site?

Common sense in me is saying the prices I see on this site are the same as they were one year ago. And if you I want the 10%-20% discount, I`ll need to brush up on my negotiation skills, research what a "reasonable" current market rate is, and shop around.

Interested to hear any new comers to Singapore willing to share their experiences.

Thanks

My impression is that asking price is roughly 10 percent higher than what the landlord actually will settle for. There is a large number of empty units, which indicates that owners expect rent to go up. So far I don't think that has happened (although prices for buying property are on the rise). These observations are however made in the outskirts of Singapore, and I have no idea how things are in central areas.

[mrsfingers]

Our 2 year lease recently expired and we were able to negotiate the renewal at a 20% discount with some maintenance work thrown in FOC. Do not be afraid to negotiate hard. When we moved here 2 years ago, renters did not have this sort of bargaining power. The rental market was at a peak and much of Singapore was a building site with new developments and en-bloc frenzy. Sales prices recently gained momentum with many "investors" rushing in to take advantage of the price falls. In the rental market however it's a different story.

Over the last 2 years there has been an explosion of new condos built coupled with a bunch of expats getting shipped back home after the financial crisis. All of which works in your favour. We did use the advertised prices in Singapore Expats as a guide, and in our particular case these were lower than previously. Plus we were able to point out to our landlord that his "won't go any lower than" price was 10% higher than other units in the same condo. Our negotiation strategy was "win-win" - decide on your ideal price, bid lower and agree in the middle. And as always, it pays to shop around.

[guruvishwanath]

Hate to throw a water bucket! The rents are actually on a bit on upswing. Not that much, its creeping up. My lease is up and my landlord who doubled the rent during the first hype before the train wreck is now asking for a 8% increase. While its not that much, I was still taken aback. So I did a little survey of the estate I live in and discovered that I was still paying less than what other's were paying and even with the new increment, I will still be paying at least 15% less. So should I up and leave? Highly unlikely as I have been living in this apartment for 9 years now.

But its best to do a vigorous comparison of the same location, complex, area and check with others (friends, acquaintances, psychics, tea leaf readers etc.).

[macaroonie]

Is it possible to find a 2 bedroom condo near tiong bahru for around $2K??? is this possible at all?