July 2026 Development Report on Long-term Rental Apartments in Asia (China)
July Asia (China) Long-Term Rental Apartment Market Overview
01 Global Apartment Market Development Trends
In July, according to the monitoring data of the Asia Travel & Hospitality Big Data Research Institute, the overall rent in the global rental market still rose. However, compared with the same period in 2025, "narrowing growth range, intensified regional differentiation, and improved bargaining power of tenants" have become the three most prominent changes in the global rental market.
In the United States, the rental market is shifting from "nationwide general increase" to a differentiation stage of "rising in core cities and under pressure in cities with sufficient supply". In July, the average rent in the United States was about $1,663 per month, up 0.8% year on year. Rents in the first-tier cities of San Francisco, New York and Boston are still rising rapidly. The particularity of San Francisco lies in that the AI industry is pushing up the demand for housing from high-income employed population again. At the same time, the growth of housing supply cannot keep up with the demand. According to the data of The Wall Street Journal, the average listed rent in San Francisco has reached about $3,728, rising by about 18% in two years, and the vacancy rate has dropped to about 3.7%. New York has the highest rent, but the growth rate is not as fast as that of San Francisco, and it is one of the markets with the highest absolute rent among major cities in the United States. Especially in Manhattan, the median rent of market-oriented apartments in July has reached $5,000, up 6% year on year, while the number of listed housing sources has decreased by 39%. The seasonal rise in Boston is very obvious, with an average rent of $3,632 per month. The second tier is Chicago and San Jose, whose performance is significantly better than the national average. The average rent in Chicago is $2,054 per month, up 4.3% year on year. The average rent in San Jose is $2,845 per month, up about 6.7% year on year. The third tier includes Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle and Washington, where the absolute value of rent is high, but the rent growth has slowed down significantly.
In Italy, the average listed rent of residential properties across the country is about 15.4 euros per square meter per month, up 5.5% year on year. Rents did not drop in July, but continued to hit a record high. In traditional high-rent markets such as Milan, Rome and Florence, although prices are still very high, some cities have seen phenomena such as significantly narrowing month-on-month growth, rent cuts by landlords, increasing number of long-term rental housing sources, and improved bargaining power of tenants. The Italian rental market has gradually shifted from housing shortage and rapid rent rise to high rent level, improved supply and declining growth. The rent in Florence is second only to Milan, at about 1,561 euros per month, which is mainly affected by factors such as international tourism, international students, foreign population, employment in the hotel and tourism industry, and limited long-term housing supply. The average rent in Rome is about 1,386 euros per month, but the growth rate has slowed down significantly. Bologna is much cheaper than Milan, but the rental demand is very strong, which is mainly supported by the joint rental demand of universities, medical care, manufacturing, service industry and young population. The rental market is moving from "severe housing shortage" to the stage of "beginning to improve supply".
In the UK, the average rent for newly signed leases is about £1,369 per month; official ONS data shows that the latest stock rent level is £1,388 per month. London has once again become an important market for rent rise in the UK. According to HomeLet data, the average new lease rent in London is £2,207 per month, up 6% year on year and 1.2% month on year, which is mainly due to the concentrated employed population, high housing prices hindering home purchase and insufficient rental supply. Manchester is one of the most noteworthy regional rental markets in the UK. The local average rent rose by about 2% year on year, but the market inventory has increased significantly compared with a few years ago, tenants have more choices, and the competition is not as fierce as after the epidemic. The current situation is that rents continue to rise, but the market has shifted from "snatching housing" to "rational competition". Edinburgh is a high-rent city in the UK, and attention should be paid to the "housing source structure". The median listed rent in the market is about £1,440 per month, of which 1 bedroom is £1,100; 2 bedroom is £1,450; 3 bedroom is £2,140, which is mainly supported by universities, financial industry, government agencies and international population, and the rental demand has been relatively stable for a long time.
02 Asia-Pacific Rental Market Development Trends
In Australia, the rental market warmed up significantly in July. Compared with the same period in 2025, the biggest change is not "nationwide general rent rise", but the re-differentiation of the market. The national median residential rent is about A$705 per week, equivalent to about A$3055 per month, up 5.9% year on year. Sydney was the strongest rental market in July, with a rise of A$50 in a single quarter, the largest quarterly increase in four years. At present, the number of rental housing sources in Sydney is about 24.1% lower than the long-term average level, and it is one of the cities with the most obvious supply gap in the country. Darwin's rent is A$760 per week, up 11.8% year on year, which is very prominent among the eight capital cities in Australia. Moreover, the stable rental vacancy rate in Darwin is only 0.1%, which can almost be understood that once the housing source is released, it will be quickly absorbed by the market. Brisbane's rent continues to catch up with Sydney, at A$700 per week, and the gap with Sydney's A$841 has narrowed. The driving forces of Brisbane include population inflow, employment growth, insufficient housing supply, lower living cost than Sydney, and still high threshold for home purchase, so it belongs to a high-demand and rent-catch-up market.
In Singapore, the monthly rent of mainstream whole-rental residential properties in July is about S$3,000-4,500 per month. In the second quarter of 2026, the rent of private residential properties rose by 0.7%, higher than the 0.3% in the first quarter. By the end of the second quarter of 2026, the vacancy rate of private residential properties was 6.4%, and about 1,212 new private residential units were added in the second quarter. It is expected that about 60,600 more private residential units will enter the market in the next few years. This means that "rent rise + increasing housing sources" will occur at the same time. In the CCR Core Central Region, the rent of non-landed residential properties in Q2 CCR rose by 1.2%, the highest growth rate among the three regions. From the perspective of the "high-end rental market", Singapore's core region is still very strong. In the RCR Rest of Central Region, the rent of mainstream apartments is S$3,500-6,500 per month, which is a cost-effective rental area in Singapore at present. In the OCR Outside Central Region, the rent in Q2 dropped by 0.3%, forming a very obvious contrast with CCR, which means that Singapore's rental market is not "rising across the board", but strong in the core region and weak in the peripheral region.
In South Korea, the rental market was significantly strong in July, with Seoul and the capital circle becoming the core of growth; the nationwide jeonse price continued to rise, and the monthly rent also continued to go up. The market is further transforming from the traditional "jeonse market" to a structure of "parallel development of jeonse and monthly rent with increasing proportion of monthly rent". There are very obvious regional differences in the average monthly rent of South Korean monthly-rent households: about 1.066 million won per month in the capital circle, about 613,000 won per month in the non-capital circle, and the national average level of monthly-rent households is about 800,000 won per month. It is worth noting that Seoul's jeonse price exceeded 700 million won for the first time in July. Year on year, the jeonse price of apartments in Seoul has risen by about 7.6%. Gyeonggi-do is the second growth pole of South Korea's rental market. The jeonse price of apartments rose by 0.86%, significantly higher than the national 0.53%, especially in Seoul commuting circles such as Suwon, Yongin, Seongnam, Goyang, Hwaseong and Hanam. The rental market in Incheon is also rising, but it is significantly weaker than that in Seoul. The jeonse price rose by 0.32%, and the overall residential jeonse price rose by 0.21%, with a moderate growth rate. Busan is the second largest city in South Korea, but compared with Seoul, the rental market is significantly weaker. The overall residential jeonse price rose by 0.11%, showing a moderate growth trend.
03 China's Rental Market Development Trends
In July, among the top 10 key monitored cities, rents rose month on month in 8 cities and fell in 2. According to the data from China Housing Price Market Network, the national median rent was 1,800 yuan per month, unchanged month on month. In July, the city with the largest month-on-month decline among the top 10 cities was Tianjin, with a decline of 3.75%, and the city with the largest growth was Wuhan, with a growth rate of 34.07%.
04 Opening Trends of Rental Enterprises
The second-phase housing sources of Poly Hey Apartment Hengqin Store were launched. On July 1, Poly Apartment officially announced that the second-phase housing sources of Poly Hey Apartment Hengqin Store were officially launched, with a comprehensive upgrade of house types and supporting facilities for young groups who travel between Hengqin and Macao for work and study. The second phase has a total of 144 units, mainly promoting 50-63㎡ finely decorated spaces. The house type design focuses on space utilization, which is suitable for single young people and small families to rent.
Rongtong Rong Apartment Shenzhen Songyuan West Store opened. On July 3, Rongtong Rong Apartment Shenzhen Songyuan West Store was officially opened. It is a high-quality long-term rental apartment laid out by Rongtong Real Estate Guangdong Company (central SOE long-term rental apartment brand) in Guiyuan Sub-district, Luohu District. The project has 16-29 square meters comfortable single rooms, with regular and practical layout, and some are equipped with independent bright bathrooms. The whole house is fully equipped with brand home appliances (air conditioner, refrigerator, washing machine, water heater) and furniture (bed, sofa, wardrobe), supporting check-in with luggage.
The Yunju · Duoyu Long-term Rental Apartment Xi'an Jiahui Fang Store under Gaoxin Asset Management opened. On July 8, Yunju · Duoyu Long-term Rental Apartment, the first brand of Changle Yunju Company under Gaoxin Asset Management, was officially opened in Jiahui Fang, Xi'an. The project has a total of 137 finely decorated housing units, distributed on the 3rd to 9th floors of the building. The house type covers 5 main types with an area of 30-70 square meters, covering multiple rental scenarios such as single living, living with friends, family accompanying for study, and enterprise employee dormitory.
Xinhuangpu · Dream City Beijing's first store entered trial operation. On July 10, the first project of Xinhuangpu · Dream City, a rental housing brand under Shanghai Xinhuangpu Industrial Group in Beijing, has officially launched trial operation. The project is named Xinhuangpu · Dream City Changping Silicon Valley SOHO Store, with a total of 454 units of indemnificatory rental housing put in. The project is reconstructed from the original Silicon Valley SOHO-2 office building. The building area of the project is about 30-70㎡, covering one-bedroom (about 30-50㎡), two-bedroom (about 37-48㎡), two-bedroom one-living room (about 66-70㎡) and three-bedroom one-living room, etc.
Shanghai Zhangjiang Dashe lyf Hotel opened. On July 10, Shanghai Zhangjiang Dashe lyf Hotel, a co-living brand under The Ascott Limited created for millennials and people pursuing a free lifestyle, officially opened. The hotel is essentially a serviced apartment, located in the core hinterland of Zhangjiang Science City, surrounded by international science and technology enterprises such as NVIDIA and AMD, adjacent to universities such as ShanghaiTech University, Fudan University Zhangjiang Campus, and Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, with both science and innovation atmosphere and academic resources. The hotel has 150 rooms with complete facilities, balancing office and living comfort.
Wuhan Urban Construction Group Hanyue Apartment · Haikou Binhai No.1 Store was officially opened. On July 12, Hanyue Apartment · Haikou Binhai No.1 Store under Wuhan Urban Construction Group was officially opened. The project has a total of 78 units, with finely decorated house types covering one-bedroom (about 52.5㎡), two-bedroom (about 70.6㎡), three-bedroom (about 91.4㎡) and other types, to meet different living needs such as single living, small family living and shared renting.
Zhejiang Wuzhen Fraser Residence International Apartment entered trial operation. On July 15, Zhejiang Wuzhen Fraser Residence International Apartment officially launched trial operation. The apartment is built by Yada International and fully operated by Frasers Hospitality, which is an important layout of the Fraser Residence brand in the Yangtze River Delta region. The project provides a total of 117 light luxury suites, with the design concept of "Sleeping by Water · Seclusion", integrating Jiangnan water town architectural style with modern living experience, emphasizing the sense of belonging of "home".
Fonroy Apartment Shanghai Minhang Longbai Store officially opened. On July 17, Fonroy Apartment announced that Shanghai Longbai Store was officially opened. The project mainly provides finely decorated units of 30㎡ (superior one-bedroom) and 35㎡ (superior one-bedroom). The rent of the project is about 3600 yuan per month for 30㎡ and 4000 yuan per month for 35㎡ (the rent usually includes broadband and property fee, no extra miscellaneous fees).
Wuhan Chengtou Anjiale Apartment · Guanggu Square Store launched 890 high-quality rental housing units. On July 16, Anjiale Apartment · Guanggu Square Store was officially opened to the public. The project launched 890 high-quality youth apartments, with a house type area of about 40-69㎡, covering exquisite single rooms, comfortable one-bedroom one-living room and light luxury suites, which can adapt to multiple scenarios such as single living, two-person world and family living.
Shenzhen Luohu Port CASA Jiashé opened. In July, the long-term rental apartment division of Vanke Group (Poyu) launched the first store of its new long-term rental apartment brand. The project is equipped with about 550㎡ shared public area, including light luxury lobby reception area, audio-visual room, entertainment room, quiet reading corner/study room, multi-functional conference room, dynamic fitness area and leisure water bar, to meet the social, leisure and office needs of residents.
Ascott's first store in Anhui settled in Binke City TOD. On July 24, Hefei Rail TOD announced that Ascott, the high-end serviced apartment brand under Capitaland Investment, settled in Binke City TOD, which is the first store in Anhui. The total building area of the project is about 137,000 square meters, and a 220-meter super high-rise landmark tower is planned. 175 units of various types are planned, covering executive studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom suites.
The Btours International Apartment project was launched on Baiyuan Road, East District of Zhongshan City. On July 31, Zhongshan Cuiheng Group reached a new cooperation agreement with the Btours brand under Dongcheng Group, to launch the Btours International Apartment project on Baiyuan Road, East District, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province. The project is located on Baiyuan Road, East District of Zhongshan City, in the core area of the East District, with concentrated government agencies, commercial buildings and commercial supporting facilities around, and sufficient demand for business travel short-term rental.
Ningchao signed two stock housing cooperation agreements in Hangzhou, involving 454 housing units. In July, Anju Ningchao Company successively made layouts in the field of stock property revitalization, and signed housing cooperation agreements with Hangzhou Culture Radio and Television Group and Hangzhou Linping Urban Construction Group Co., Ltd. respectively, to promote the renewal and upgrading of stock housing with the mode of "municipal-district linkage and state-owned enterprise coordination", involving a total of 454 housing units.
05 Market Entry