Wrong Time To Invest In Shoe-Box Apartment?

[Jenova 0]

if the government dont sell state land for so much, all these would not have happened. public housing being the basic needs is already so ex. how can we blame the soaring price of private.

generally foriegn buyers/ investors dont like shoebox units as they are psf sensitive. the buyers are mainly singaporeans first timers. as the quantum is affortable despite high psf. ppl who complained are actually the buyers and the drivers. my god!!!

anyway all these reports are useless, they are never correct. its always the opposite but their pay is the highest. in fact i felt that sg property should be allowed to grow at its own pace. when hk property drop, within months they bounce up agian as 70 t 80% of them dont own private property and they are dying to go in when the prices drop abit. which exceptions during sars

hdb owners shouldnot aim at making a profit from the sale of their properties. this cov thing is pushing the prices up. government should not aim to make a good profit in their land tender as well. as this will push up the prices btos are selling. if you want to make a profit, you should not expect private housing to be cheap for you to grab.

if rectification is needed, rectify it from the roots and not from the top, gov is just wasting time and money.

so my point of view is, if the government dont give cheap housing, they cant control the pricing despite all the society harming polices they come out with. in fact we need foreign talent, foreign money and everything foreign. if you lose your job to foreign talent, den too bad, you need to value add and not complain.

if one day, the foreigners leaves us, we are all dead meat. we are a small country, we are like an agent to the bigger countries and we need to maintain/improve our population density to sustian.

so in short, i think private still can buy but with caution, these shoebox units are still within reach and will continue to thrive.

2013 will be the yr of 300 sf units. bear in mind a standard hotel room is about 250sf. so there is still room for studios to go smaller.

but of course if can afford, buy land. be it 99 or freehold. one thing i dont understand. ppl 99yrs hdb and condo aka 99yr air space can buy, 99yrs land that you cannnot.

[Jenova 0]

sorry my comments may sound baseless and crude, but i forsee a new trend coming.

condos that operates like a hotel with services such as laundry and catering services. so development may just simply build a hotel like condo, say 200sf each, fully furnished with hotel services, daily cleaning and catering.

3000psf, will only cost you 600k with monthly installment around 1.5k pm. still cheaper than hotel stay right? den the best part is, once mcst is formed, you will start to pay hugh sinking to maintain the services cause they wash hand liao.

[Plastic3 0]

Shoeboxes are still hot, the number of transaction is still going strong. But MND say may step to limit the no of SB in developments.

It is inevitable that the transactions are going up as the developers are launching more small units.

New apartments with sizes under 50sqm or 538sqft increased from 3.6% in 2007 to 19.4% in 2011.

In 2007, more than 69% of private apartments launched were bigger than 101sqm or 1086sqft.

In 2011, more than 65.7% of private apartments launched were smaller than 101sqm or 1086sqft.

In 2007 only 424 of such shoebox units were launched.

By the year 2015, over 2700 more of such units will receive TOP.

more figures on my blog if anyone's interested:

Shrinking apartment sizes

Shoebox units already TOP & how they are faring

[Plastic3 0]

May i know the profile of people who bought SOHO (shoe box apartment) ?

1. are they single ? Why do they buy it ? What is their age like ?

2. If not single (married) - why do they buy it ? What is their age like ?

Shoebox = "mickey mouse" unit

SOHO = small office/home office (live & work same place)

they are different.

Quite a number of HDB dwellers are buying for investment purposes because of the low quantum/affordability, but the rentability of such unit is unknown when over 2700 units TOP after 2014/2015.

Due to the mushrooming of shoebox apartments island-wide, URA has stipulated that all private apartments and flats to be built in areas with Gross Plot Ratio of 1.4 must have the minimum plot size of 1,000sqm and the size of all dwelling units must be at least 70sqm.

For Telok Kurau estate, due to the narrow local access roads (lorongs) that are prone to traffic jams, the dwelling units for flat and condominium developments must have a minimum of 100sqm in addition to the minimum plot size requirement.

Edited May 23, 2012 by Plastic3

[Plastic3 0]

At times I wonder why citizens give up hdb, while prefer to "fight" with foreigners in pte pty. Refer to citizens staying in pte pty >5 yrs without holding any hdb unit( pte-pty-only-portfolio). Anyone can enlighten me?

Some of them did not "plan" properly, quite a number of millionaires tell me they should have bought a HDB when they had the chance OR they should not have sold their HDB to begin with.

Even though they are already rich, they're still not happy that there are rules against private property owners buying HDB (for investment) *shake head*

Edited May 23, 2012 by Plastic3

[matrix0405 0]

It is inevitable that the transactions are going up as the developers are launching more small units.

New apartments with sizes under 50sqm or 538sqft increased from 3.6% in 2007 to 19.4% in 2011.

more figures on my blog if anyone's interested:

Shrinking apartment sizes

Shoebox units already TOP & how they are faring

SB are now getting smaller. 500sqft is still livable, now seeing more and more 300+sqft unit. 300 is like the 'old' house living RM; hotel room size.

Plastic, any experience in finding tenant for SB? Is it easy to rent such small SB unit out?

[kalimantan 6]

i am really curious to know how many manage to rent out for SB. And what kind of rents the owner are gettng compare to what they paid ?

[yokine9a 1]

May i know the profile of people who bought SOHO (shoe box apartment) ?

1. are they single ? Why do they buy it ? What is their age like ?

2. If not single (married) - why do they buy it ? What is their age like ?

I knew 2 people who bought SB.

1. are they single ? Why do they buy it ? What is their age like ?

Single, bought it for self-stay, >40yo.

2. If not single (married) - why do they buy it ? What is their age like ?

Married couple, for investment, >55yo.

[kalimantan 6]

I knew 2 people who bought SB.

1. are they single ? Why do they buy it ? What is their age like ?

Single, bought it for self-stay, >40yo.

2. If not single (married) - why do they buy it ? What is their age like ?

Married couple, for investment, >55yo.

1. isn't buying a hdb cheaper ? Sometimes renovation can make your inner house "condo-style"

2. maybe they pass it to their children

[yokine9a 1]

1. isn't buying a hdb cheaper ? Sometimes renovation can make your inner house "condo-style"

2. maybe they pass it to their children

1. She already bought 1 HDB few years back. She plans to rent out the bigger HDB & stay in the SB.

2. Maybe, or they can rent it out.

End of the day, there are many singles in Sgp, & FT who came here alone for work.. there is still pretty strong demand for SB units... actually, if people can afford a big house, who would want to buy/rent a SB?

[lee_sg_123 0]

This should silent all the critiques:

http://www.squarefoot.com.sg/market-watch/shoebox-rental

[4995 0]

Ya , almost 4 to 5 month already ..

[Twinsen 0]

Show the chart again 6-12 months time. The truth is rental is coming down and when the oversupply comes in 2014 and onwards... When tenants have a choice.. Mm units will not be their first choice....