Estimates released by property websites 99.co and SRX showed that private flat rents slipped by 0.3 per cent month-on-month in March, marking a decline after 26 consecutive months of increases.

Year-on-year, they were 32.3 per cent higher. Only flat rents in the central core edged up 0.1 per cent month-on-month last month, while rents in the other central and non-central areas fell by 0.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively.

An estimated 4,914 flats were let last month, down 4% month-on-month and 22% year-on-year.

For the HDB market, overall rents rose slightly by 0.7% month-on-month and climbed by 26.8% year-on-year last month.

Apart from a 0.4% month-on-month drop in rents for four-bedroom HDB flats, rents for all other types of HDB flats increased, ranging from 0.3% to 2.1%.

An estimated 3,007 HDB flats were let last month, an increase of almost 14.8% over the previous month and 1.1% year-on-year.