Category Archives: Property Market / Real Estate

The land of shrinking apartments?

Developers offering small units gain from a higher per-sq-ft price, but what about buyers?

Property players seem to have gone flat-out in a race to offer smaller and smaller units these days .

The foundation of this trend is mainly in the mass-market and mid-tier projects. However, upmarket developments downtown such as The Sail@Marina Bay, One Shenton and Icon have also made room for units that are smaller than 700 sq ft each.

Colliers International executive director Ho Eng Joo said developers find it commercially viable to build smaller units because of the higher profit margins.

More units can be packed within the space, and can be sold at a higher per-sq-ft price.

But since absolute sums for the smaller apartments are still relatively affordable compared to bigger units, the prices may still seem like a good deal for buyers. Continue reading

Make a bid for your dream home

Property auctions are another avenue house-hunters can explore

An auction is another marketplace home buyers can check out if they want to widen their property search.

Auctioneer Mary Sai from Knight Frank said the auction method is fast, neat and transparent.

While there may not be as many mortgagee sales – when a bank sells a property it has repossessed because the borrower cannot pay his mortgage – as expected earlier, there are more owners willing to sell via auction.

If you are interested in taking this route you can start by contacting the auction houses to get an idea of the properties on offer.

The main auction houses in Singapore – Colliers International, DTZ, Jones Lang LaSalle and Knight Frank – post their auction dates, venues and available properties online. They usually hold their auctions at Amara Hotel.

Apart from the big boys, there is also CKS, a smaller but long-time player. Recently, new entrants such as Credo Real Estate have also joined the market. Continue reading