Category Archives: Property Price

Singapore Property : The Penthouse Squeeze

They were bungalows in the sky once; now penthouses can be smaller than 800 sq ft

Mention penthouses and one immediately thinks of big, luxurious bungalows in the sky, with wraparound views and a multimillion-dollar price tag.

But these days they can be as small as 800 sq ft or less.

These penthouses have come on the market along with mostly yet-to-be-completed developments featuring ‘mickey mouse’ apartments of 500 sq ft or less.

There is no market data on the number of these small penthouses but a survey of some recent projects with small units shows they are not uncommon.

At the recently released five- storey, 40-unit City Loft project near Farrer Park MRT station, the two-bedroom penthouses are 743 to 904 sq ft in size.

Another recent launch Suites@Guillemard – with units as small as 258 sq ft – has penthouses of 797 to 1109 sq ft. Some sales were done around a median level of $1,250 psf.

At the 114-unit Siglap V, penthouses come as small as 760 sq ft and go up to 1,300 sq ft. This yet-to-be-launched project opposite Siglap Centre otherwise offers units starting from 380 to 730 sq ft.

Kembangan Suites also has small penthouses that come with private jacuzzis. The smallest, at 635 sq ft, includes a roof terrace that looks similar to the size of the private jacuzzi.

The project’s 60 units were sold for $775 to $1,097 psf in March.

These penthouses of around 700 to 780 sq ft may appear to be as big as a three-room HDB flat – HDB’s new build-to-order project Fernvale Palms, for instance, offers three- room units of about 721 sq ft – but they have less usable space. Continue reading

Singapore Property : Bubble brewing?

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Caveat emptor: investing in the property market carries high risks, but also equally high rewards.

WITH the recent release of third-quarter real estate data, it may be timely to ask: Is there a real estate bubble, and if so, how bad is it? When the figures were unveiled in the last week of October, private-housing prices were out-of-sync with the rest of the market. Prices and rents were down for the other major sectors – office, retail and industrial. These trends were in line with current economic conditions.

Private-housing prices rebounded sharply by 15.8 per cent, easily the highest quarterly rise in more than 25 years. This is aggravated by the decline of housing rentals. Prices dropped by 2.2 per cent despite the third quarter traditionally being the best in terms of number of leases closed, as this is when many expatriates return from their holidays and sign new rental contracts.

Although the overall housing rental trend is down, rentals in some areas have improved and recorded increases in August and September. These increases could partly be due to the large number of expatriates signing new leases in the third quarter. Overseas managerial staff from the integrated resorts would also have signed on during this period.

Rents will go up for some developments due to competition. There are also signs that some tenants are moving to smaller units. This may also lead to rises in some unit types but declines for others.
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