Higher housing maintenance, repair costs push up Singapore accommodation inflation in January
The Consumer Price Index for housing maintenance and repairs takes into account the rebates for service and conservancy charges disbursed to households living in HDB flats. (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua / EdgeProp Singapore)
Accommodation inflation in Singapore picked up in January 2026, rising to 1.7% y-o-y, as compared to 0.3% in December 2025, according to official statistics.
This was due to a larger increase in the cost of housing maintenance and repairs, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) in a joint press release on Feb 23.
Singapore’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) for housing maintenance and repairs takes into account the rebates for service and conservancy charges disbursed to households living in HDB flats. This results in some volatility in the monthly CPI.
On a month-on-month basis, accommodation expenditures fell 1.4% in January.
Accommodation, one of the groups in the housing and utilities expenditure division of the CPI, comprises actual rentals for housing, imputed rentals for housing, as well as housing maintenance and repairs.
Housing price is not considered in the CPI as it has a high investment component and is treated as a capital good.
Source: Department of Statistics Singapore
Meanwhile, expenditures in utilities and other fuels, also categorised under the broader housing and utilities division of the CPI, fell by 0.4% y-o-y last month and decreased 1.4% m-o-m.
Taken together, housing and utilities inflation stood at 1.7% y-o-y and was down 1.4% m-o-m in January.
Retail inflation rises slightly
Retail and other goods inflation increased to 0.5%, from 0% in December, primarily due to higher costs of other appliances for personal care.
Prices of non-cooked food and food services rose at similar rates in January 2026 and December 2025, which resulted in food inflation remaining unchanged at 1.2% y-o-y last month.
As for household durables and services, which includes furniture and household appliances, prices fell by 0.2% y-o-y in January.
Electricity and gas inflation was unchanged at -4.2% last month as electricity tariffs declined at a similar pace as in December.
Source: Department of Statistics Singapore
Overall inflation in Singapore, as measured by CPI-All Items, rose to 1.4% y-o-y in January, from 1.2% last December, driven up by higher accommodation inflation that more than offset lower core and private transport inflation.
Core inflation — which excludes accommodation and private transport — fell to 1.0% y-o-y in January, from 1.2% in December. This was largely because of a moderation in services inflation.
Outlook
In the joint release, MAS and MTI said that core inflation and overall inflation (CPI-All Items) are expected to average 1.0% to 2.0% in 2026.
This comes as Singapore’s imported costs are likely to stay contained. On the domestic front, unit labour cost growth should edge higher this year, but the extent of increase will be dampened by sustained productivity growth, MAS and MTI said.
Meanwhile, private consumption demand is likely to remain steady amid continued real wage increases.
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