By Andy Mukherjee
During the pre-Lehman property craze, variable mortgage borrowing costs were declining. Now they’re surging. As the US Federal Reserve pushes its policy rates even higher, landlords will want to earn at least 3.5% annually on their purchase cost. However, 3%-plus rental yields on a new investment can only be found in the eastern or western suburbs, or in the northern parts of the island — close to Malaysia.
Now, however, there are early indications of a reversal. In what’s “perhaps a sign that the HDB rental market is finally slowing down,” asking rents for public-housing flats on PropertyGuru posted their first quarterly decline in three years in the three months to June, the portal’s researchers note. Albeit tentative, this is good news for expats.