Juliann Teo and Raymond Ler, the husband and wife team who are co-founders of Halcyon Real Estate at Cape Royale, where the firm has been an exclusive leasing agent for the past 13 years (Photo:: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
When Raymond Ler and Juliann Teo left their corporate jobs to start Halcyon Real Estate in 2009, they weren’t taking a leap into the unknown.
The husband-and-wife duo had already spent more than a decade in Singapore’s leasing market. Ler focused on residential leasing at Knight Frank for over 10 years, while Teo managed Great Eastern Properties’ residential portfolio after five years at Savills, where she cut her teeth in commercial leasing.
“Residential leasing has been our core from the start,” says Teo. “When we entered the market, it was still fragmented.” The couple saw an opportunity to bring greater structure and professionalism to that segment.
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With their complementary skill sets, they co-founded Halcyon Real Estate to focus exclusively on landlord representation. “We positioned ourselves as an extension of developers’ marketing teams — without adding to their headcount cost,” explains Ler.
According to Ler, it’s akin to project sales, but applied to the rental market — where strategy, branding and end-to-end execution matter just as much.
Halcyon’s early success quickly caught the attention of industry players. In 2013, JLL acquired the boutique agency as part of its push into residential leasing, expanding the team to 15 staff with Teo at the helm.
By 2019, however, Ler and Teo felt the pull of independence once more.
After six years at JLL, they revived Halcyon Real Estate — and promptly closed 800 leasing transactions that year, double their pre-acquisition annual average of about 400.
Balcony of a Cape Royale unit offering a 180-degree view of the marina and the sea (All photos by Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
From the outset, Halcyon secured mandates that cemented its niche. The firm managed the leasing of Turquoise, a 91-unit luxury condo with waterway views developed by Ho Bee Land and completed in 2010.
This was followed by Seascape, a 151-unit project jointly developed by Ho Bee Land and Malaysia’s IOI Properties, which was completed a year later.
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Their biggest coup was Cape Royale, a 302-unit development completed in 2013. For the past 13 years, Halcyon has been its exclusive leasing agent. “It’s the only condo in Sentosa Cove with city, marina, and sea views all at once,” Ler notes.
Since Cape Royale’s launch in 2022, over 40% of its units have been sold. Halcyon continues to handle leasing for the remaining units on behalf of Ho Bee Land. Cape Royale commands rents in the range of $5.50 psf per month to $6.50 psf per month.
For instance, Ler just listed a 3,111 sq ft four-bedroom unit on the first level of Cape Royale at $20,000 ($6.43 psf) per month. Meanwhile, an 8,105 sq ft, six-bedroom penthouse has an asking rent of $49,800 ($6.14 psf) per month. “The penthouse is the jewel of Cape Royale,” he says.
A 2,508 sq ft, four-bedroom unit at Cape Royale with interiors designed by Farm Studio is priced at $5.963 million ($2,378 psf)
These long-term mandates have given them a front-row seat to Sentosa Cove’s property cycles. After the pandemic, they witnessed a rebound in both sales and rentals. “The waterfront lifestyle continues to appeal to expatriates,” says Ler. “Even when a unit changes hands, many tenants prefer to stay within the enclave rather than leave it.”
Teo adds that Sentosa Cove’s residential population remains predominantly expatriate, although more Singaporeans are renting to “test-drive” the lifestyle before committing to a purchase.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, the couple pivoted quickly. Virtual video tours became essential for overseas tenants. Demand shifted toward larger, more spacious homes. “Post-Covid, people valued space and greenery. That trend helped Sentosa Cove rebound strongly,” Teo recalls.
Hybrid work also altered leasing behaviour. Tenants who once prioritised central addresses began favouring lifestyle and space over commute times — benefitting waterfront and city fringe projects alike.
Fully furnished, turnkey one-bedroom apartments at Midtown Bay are commanding monthly rental rates ranging from $5,000 to $5,500 or $12.22 psf to $13.45 psf
While the condos in Sentosa Cove are known for their expansive layouts, newer condos in the Core Central Region (CCR) are trending smaller, observes Ler. “At Hyll on Holland, two-bedroom units start from around 570 sq ft; Pullman Residences Newton offers one-bedroom units of about 463 sq ft, and Midtown Bay’s one-bedrooms start from 409 sq ft.”
As units shrink, product differentiation becomes critical, he adds. At Midtown Bay, for instance, Halcyon works with GuocoLand to lease select apartments to mobile tenants seeking flexible leases. These apartments come with turnkey options that include full furnishing and services such as Wifi, air-conditioning maintenance, and weekly housekeeping.
Midtown Bay attracts such “mobile tenants” thanks to its location within Guoco Midtown, which integrates offices, retail and F&B offerings, and connects directly to the Bugis MRT Interchange (East-West and Downtown Lines).
Such fully furnished, turnkey one-bedroom apartments at Midtown Bay are commanding monthly rental rates ranging from $5,000 to $5,500 or $12.22 psf to $13.45 psf.
By comparison, two-bedroom units of 700 sq ft to 800 sq ft have monthly rents between $5,800 and $8,500 ($7.25 psf to $12.14 psf). “Furnished units with housekeeping services typically fetch the higher end of that range,” says Ler.
“Developers benefit from stronger yields, while we manage the tenancy experience,” he adds. “This approach has gained traction.” Far East Organization, for example, has appointed Halcyon to manage the leasing of 85 apartments at The Scotts Tower, a 231-unit development on Scotts Road.
Halcyon Real Estate has been appointed the leasing agent for 85 apartments at The Scotts Tower, a 231-unit development on Scotts Road
Another shift is the length of leases. Instead of traditional two-year contracts with diplomatic clauses, Teo notes that six- to 12-month leases are becoming more common. She attributes this to global uncertainty, which has made both corporations and expatriates more cautious — hence shorter commitments.
This has also led to some statistical quirks. “Sometimes it’s the same tenant renewing a lease multiple times, but it shows up as separate transactions of the same unit,” she explains.
According to CBRE Research, as of 2Q2025, vacancy rates stood at 10.7% in the Core Central Region, 7.2% in the Rest of Central Region, and 5.6% in the Outside Central Region — all higher than the previous quarter. Despite that, the private rental index still rose 0.8% q-o-q, following a 0.4% gain in 1Q2025.
Cumulatively, rents rose 1.2% in 1H2025, clawing back from a 1.9% decline in 2024. Upcoming supply remains tight, with just 4,949 private units slated for completion this year — 41.5% fewer than in 2024. CBRE forecasts islandwide rents to rise 1–3% in 2025.
“On the ground, it may feel like rents have eased, but official indices still point to stability,” says Teo. She expects rents to hold at current levels or even rise moderately through the rest of the year.