HOME rental fees in Shenzhen have declined for five successive months, with the average rent down to 67.9 yuan (US$10.13) per square meter per month in August, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported yesterday.

    A tenant surnamed Xie said the monthly rent of his 41-square-meter apartment in Jingtian declined from 4,600 yuan in February to 4,300 yuan in July. “It’s the first time that my landlord lowered the rent so sharply over the past two years,” he said.

    Similarly, the monthly rent of a 37-square-meter apartment in Baishizhou, Nanshan District, dropped by 350 yuan over the past four months, and another 37-square-meter flat nearby that was leased for 4,700 yuan per month in February has also dropped by 300 yuan recently.

    Data from realty agencies showed that rent in Shenzhen has declined by 5 to 10 percent since Spring Festival. The average rent in August was 67.9 yuan per square meter per month, down by 2.5 percent compared with a year ago. The average rent for whole apartments was 4,845 yuan per month, with a year-on-year decline of 4.2 percent.

    With rental fees slumping, some apartments in Qianhai, Dongmen and near Futian Checkpoint have remained vacant for one to two months.

    According to Xiao Xiaoping, a general manager with Homelink Real Estate, some long-term rental apartments refurbished by property developers have seized market shares from rental apartments traditionally offered by homeowners, leading to a slide in rental fees and the growing vacancy rate of rented flats.

    There are over 100 property developers in Shenzhen that have launched long-term rental apartments, which are usually equipped with public facilities, such as cinemas, coffee shops, reading lounges, gyms and dining areas, for tenants to use for free.

    Some real estate companies, such as ziroom.com, refurbished apartments they bought from homeowners and then leased them to tenants at higher prices. Other property developers bought or rented whole residential buildings and leased out apartments after refurbishment.

    Shenzhen-based property developer Vanke has launched more than 10 long-term rental apartment projects in Guangzhou, Xiamen, Hefei, Shanghai and Chongqing, which are expected to offer over 150,000 rented flats by 2017. (Zhang Yang)