Limited demand and supply from investors have pushed up rents and prices of HDB shops in the last three years, mostly affecting small and medium-sized retailers, The Straits Times reported.
George Wong, who runs a bubble tea shop in Toa Payoh, said he pays about S$3,800 monthly for a 380 sq ft unit, or half of a first-storey HDB shop.
“Most HDB shops islandwide could be rented at S$4,000 to S$5,000 per month five years ago. Now for that amount you’d get only half a shop,” said property agent Henry Ong, adding that prices have risen in tandem with increasing resale values.
But coffee shops are usually priced 20 to 30 percent higher than other shops as they draw more customers, said Chris Koh, Director at Chris International.
Grace Ng, Deputy Managing Director at Colliers International, noted that resale prices of HDB shophouses have shot up by 30 to 50 percent over the past few years. She added that shops in areas like Clementi Town Centre could be resold from S$3.5 million to S$10 million, based on location and size.
Despite this demand, as of March only 8,500 shops (out of the 14,450 HDB shops island-wide) were available on the resale market. The remaining 5,950 units were owned and leased out by the HDB.
Source – PropGuru – 2013 May 9
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